Minestrone with red kidney beans

For this dish, I used MOB Kitchen’s recipe as inspiration, however I have added a bit of a twist which makes it slightly different from a traditional minestrone.

The ingredients I used are:

• 20g cashews

• 100g asparagus

• 100g spinach

• 3 garlic cloves

• 50g mature cheddar

• 1 tbsp chilli flakes

• 1L vegetable stock

• 400g red kidney beans

• 200g linguine

• Half a lemon

• 200g peas

• Bunch of fresh parsley

It takes 5 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.

I started by cutting the asparagus into small pieces, followed by chopping the garlic cloves, and cutting the mature cheddar into chunks.

I added a teaspoon of olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat, then tossed the cashews in until they were golden. I set them aside, and drizzled some olive oil in a larger saucepan on medium heat. I then added three quarter of the chopped garlic and all of the chilli flakes to the pan. I let it fry for a minute before adding the vegetable stock. I stirred it all together, and dropped the cheddar chunks in the mix. I broke the linguine into smaller lengths before adding it to the pan. I let it simmer for 5 minutes, and then added the drained red kidney beans.

Whilst the soup was simmering, I started preparing the sauce to go with it. I put the toasted cashews, remaining garlic gloves, fresh parsley and 1 teaspoon of olive oil into a small food processor. I blended it until it reached a smooth texture*. I then added lemon zest, and seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the sauce was ready, I went back to the soup where I dropped the asparagus and let it cook for a minute. I then added the spinach and peas, and mixed it all. I seasoned with salt and pepper to taste, and squeezed the lemon juice in. I let it simmer for 2 more minutes, and then the minestrone with red kidney beans was ready.

I added a spoonful of the sauce to the minestrone portion served and mixed it well before eating.

*1-2 tbsp of water can be added to the mix to obtain a smooth texture