Hot Mama Minestrone!

Of all soups minestrone has to be one of the most thrifty possible. It makes use of any leftover vegetables lurking in the back of the fridge and all the bits of broken spaghetti or any pasta left in the bottom of the bag.
The backbone of the soup remains the same with tomatoes, white beans (usually haricot) and pasta, to this you can add whatever you have available but generally it's a good idea to try and stick to the Mediterranean theme.
I've added kidney beans and fresh chilli to my version, dried flaked chilli works well too, to give a bit of a kick!

 With this version I've used the following,
Serves 6

2 fresh beef tomatoes (a can of plum tomatoes works brilliantly instead)
1 can of haricot beans, drained (or 100g dry weight of soaked dry beans)
1 can of red kidney beans, drained
Broken spaghetti (about 100g)
1 onion, sliced
1 orange + 1 yellow pepper, sliced
3/4 sliced cabbage leaves
1 chopped fresh chilli
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 stock cube (optional)
Dried basil + fresh basil for garnish
Oil

Start by frying the sliced onion  in a little oil on a low heat until it starts to soften, then add the garlic, chilli and  cabbage and continue to cook for a couple of minutes. Now add the beans, (if dried add enough water to cover and turn up the heat, simmer for approximately 20 minutes) if from a can then carry straight on with the next step. Now add the tomatoes plus a little boiling water and season with salt, pepper, stock cube if using and dried basil and continue to simmer on a low heat. Once the beans have become slightly soft (but not mush!) add the pasta and cook until 'al dente' (retains a bite, not sloppy) about 15/20 minutes. That's all there is to it, if you want to intensify the chilli flavour make the soup the day before but leave out the pasta until you reheat. Great for clearing the sinus's and keeping head cold's at bay!!