Italian Vegetable Soup is a wonderful collection of Italian staples. The soup is packed with different colourful vegetables which makes getting your 5 a day a breeze! It’s also a great dish to make ahead of time so you can enjoy a fuss-free mid-week meal. With this soup being both easy to make and easy on the pocket I can’t think of a better way to continue my focus on Italy this month than with this recipe!
Italian Vegetable Soup – your 5 a day in one bowl!
The base of the soup is the classic trio of onion, celery and carrot. This gives the soup a great base flavour. This trio of vegetables is known as a ‘soffrito’ and is the base of many classic Italian sauces. Add in courgette and mushrooms and you’ve got your 5 a day in one easy meal. The soup can be kept in the fridge for a few days and also freezes well. Dice the vegetables into similar sizes, with the carrots a bit smaller so they all take roughly the same time to cook.
Mid life eating
Eating lighter more vegetable based meals together with giving your body a break from meat is helpful as you get older. Chose lean meats if you’re eating meat and minimise red meats as these can be correlated with heart disease. In contrast, when dealing with the factors associated with metabolic syndrome, such as high cholesterol and blood pressure, there is no limit on vegetables.
Nutritional benefits
Carrots are great for health – full of antioxidants that protect against cardiovascular disease and cancers. They are also full of Vitamin A which supports good vision, especially at night. It’s also good for healthy skin and hair.
Celery is rich in potassium and sodium which means that celery containing juices consumed after a workout act as a great electrolyte replacement drink. A real pick-me-up!
Celery has also been found to produce significant benefits in the treatment of rheumatism. Several studies showed that celery had a positive effect in reducing pain to varying degrees after about 6 weeks of consumption.
Tomatoes are packed full of nutrients. They are full of carotenes which protect against certain cancers such as lung, skin, breast and colon. They also offer antioxidant protection against heart disease and cataracts by neutralising the harmful oxygen-free radicals before they can damage our cells.
With all these great health benefits, dive into the recipe below. It’s Italy in a bowl!
Italian Vegetable Soup
A delicious soup packed full of vegetables which is easy to make and easy on the pocket.
- Non-stick saucepan
- Wooden spoon
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Onion, diced
- 2 Celery Stalks, diced
- 1 Carrot, diced
- 1 Courgette, diced
- 2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp Tomato Puree
- 1 tsp Dried Oregano
- 400g Tin of Tomatoes
- 700 ml Vegetable stock made with 1 1/2 stock cubes
- 50g Mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley
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Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large, non-stick saucepan which has a lid.
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Add the diced onion, celery, carrot, courgette and garlic. Cover the pan and let the vegetables cook until softened. It takes about 5 minutes.
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Stir in the tomato puree and oregano.
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Add the tinned tomatoes and cook for a few minutes. I always swirl out the empty can of tomatoes with some water to get the rest of the juice into the dish. Pour in the stock and add the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for about 10 minutes. By this time the soup will have thickened a little and the vegetables will be cooked through.
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Divide between bowls and serve with a garnish of parsley. You can also grate some hard Italian cheese such as pecorino or parmesan over the top. Enjoy!