This wonderful warming soup is packed full of chunky vegetables and goodness. Without the bacon, it would be synn free on Slimming World, and it keeps well in the fridge for a few days, or it can be frozen in batches, which is handy as I usually make a huge vat of this! It’s a favourite go-to recipe of mine and it’s great to take to work and re-heat for lunches.
You can use any vegetables you have, but I generally include a good mixture of the following:
courgettes, carrots, peppers, celery, swede, onions, leeks, shredded cabbage, tomatoes.
Other ingredients:
A tin of either cannellini or other white beans, a carton of passata, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a vegetable stock cube, 2 cloves of garlic, 2-3 rashers of lean bacon, dried basil, rice vermicelli noodles. Grated parmesan cheese to serve.
Begin by dicing your vegetables finely. You can use a food processor or mini-chopper if you find this easier, but you are aiming for roughly the same size pieces. Set your vegetables to one side.
Dice your bacon and brown this in a large pan using a teaspoon of olive oil. Once the bacon is coloured add the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute before adding all your chopped vegetables, beans, passata, chopped tomatoes, stock cube, herbs and approximately half a litre of water. Bring your soup to the boil and simmer for 10 mins until the vegetables are tender. Add the broken up rice noodles to the boiling liquid and simmer for a further 10 minutes until these are cooked through.
Adjust the seasoning of your soup after tasting, and serve sprinkled with grated parmesan and torn basil leaves.