A locally inspired Minestrone soup, with Ranelagh notes.

1 red onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
Two large carrots cut in small chunks
2 large sticks of celery, finely chopped
A couple of sprigs of thyme. Stalk from broccoli (see below) finely chopped.

Fry all the above in a glug of sunflower oil. I don’t mind it burning a little to increase taste and caramelisation.

Next add 2 400g cans chopped tomatoes, a can of cannellini beans and about a litre of water. Add vegetarian powdered stock, a teaspoon of hot chilli powder, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt. Boil this for 10 minutes. Meanwhile chop a head of broccoli (large man’s fist), a yellow pepper and half a red pepper and simmer for another 5 mins, I want some bite left in these veg.

Serve with grated Parmesan.

added tracking code into header.php of this theme

Went into the cheesemongers today and asked for some Ossau-Iraty (strange name but great stuff) to be told they were fresh out. It was suggested that I try Brebis de Moulis instead (34.50/kg), so I did and am enjoying it as I write. These are both fantastic sheep’s milk cheese (I’m having apostrophe angst – help! Klaus Klaus where are you?) with a nice nutty flavour. I’m wondering why these cheeses have such odd names, is it because they’re from the Pyrenees?