This classic Italian soup spiced up with pork and fennel sausages is full of flavour, moreish and nourishing all in one. Consider making a double batch and have it for lunch the next day.
Sausage, cavolo nero and chickpea minestrone
Minestrone needn't take hours of your time to prepare. This version uses a few tasty shortcuts to condense the cooking time but not the flavour.
- 10 mins preparation
- 30 mins cooking
- Serves 4
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Ingredients
- 80 ml olive oil (⅓ cup)
- 250 gm pork and fennel sausages, casings removed, filling crumbled
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 3 small garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 litre chicken stock (4 cups)
- 400 gm canned chopped tomatoes
- 2 rosemary sprigs
- 400 gm canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 80 gm soup pasta, such as risoni or stelline
- ½ bunch cavolo nero, stalks removed, leaves coarsely chopped
- Finely grated parmesan and sourdough bread, to serve
Method
- 1Heat 50ml olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add sausage and fry until browned (5-7 minutes), adding fennel seeds and chilli in the last minute of cooking.
- 2Meanwhile, sauté celery, onion, carrot and garlic in remaining olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and light golden (5-7 minutes). Add to sausage along with stock, tomatoes and rosemary, season to taste, bring to the boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add chickpeas and pasta, stir to stop pasta sticking together, and simmer until pasta is al dente (5-6 minutes), adding cavolo nero in the last 2 minutes of cooking.
- 3Season to taste, divide among bowls, scatter with parmesan and serve with sourdough bread.
