Recipes by Barbara Northwood

Italian soup with parmesan croutons

Nov 20 08:40am

Serves
Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tblsps olive oil
2 brown onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 tsps dried Italian herbs
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
300g can butter beans, rinsed, drained
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
1 small baguette
Cooking oil spray
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Fresh basil leaves, to garnish

Method
1 Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onions and garlic. Cook, stirring, until onions are soft. Add carrots, celery and Italian herbs. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes.

2 Stir in tomatoes, butter beans and stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

3 Meanwhile, trim ends from baguette. Cut baguette into 3cm cubes. Place cubes onto a baking paper-lined oven tray. Spray with cooking oil then sprinkle with parmesan.

4 Cook in a moderately hot oven (190C) for about 10 minutes, or until bread is lightly toasted and parmesan is melted.

5 Serve soup topped with parmesan croutons. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.

TO FREEZE: Cool cooked soup before transferring to a freezer container. Prepare parmesan croutons. Freeze soup and uncooked croutons for up to two months.

TO SERVE: Thaw soup in the refrigerator overnight before reheating. Cook croutons before serving.