Budget Beater Minestrone Soup made from everyday ingredients you have in your kitchen

I think most of us are feeling the pinch, food is getting outrageously expensive, another increase in petrol is only going to fuel further price hikes (pun intended). I find myself using cheaper cuts of meat, we grew quite a lot of our veggies and salads this summer and I watch for genuine ‘specials’ and buy in accordingly.

This tasty & filling soup feeds 6 people generously, serve with some nice crusty bread. I have estimated the cost of the major ingredients, the rest everyone should have in their cupboards. Give or take, the soup comes in at under R30.00. Great for Meatless Monday and vegetarians can just use vegetable stock.

1 TBSP oil

2 medium onions, chopped finely R1.50

1 clove of garlic, crushed or grated

1 tsp Italian dried herbs

500g mixed frozen vegetables (smaller veggies work better) R7.50

1 tin tomatoes (410g) chopped R5.00

1 tsp salt

A good grind of black pepper

2 tsp sugar

2 chicken stock cubes (or veggie) dissolved in 1 litre of boiling water – I prefer the Telma make of stock cubes, available in Spar and Pick n Pay.

1 litre chicken or vegetable stock

1 TSP chopped parsley

1/2 cup small pasta – I used pasta rice R2.00 (you can also use spaghetti broken up)

Pasta Rice

1 tin baked beans (410g) R4.99

1 TSP fresh basil sliced thinly (optional)

grated Parmesan or cheddar cheese to serve R6.00

Using a pan with a good base, heat the oil, toss in the onions and garlic, immediately lower the heat and sweat them off gently until soft and translucent. Add the dried herbs, frozen veg, tomatoes, sugar, seasoning, stock and parsley.

Gently bring to the boil, add the pasta and simmer for 10 minutes, don’t forget to give it a stir every now and then. Add the beans and continue simmering for another 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust to suit yourself.

I have made some slight alterations to this recipe by Lynn Bedford Hall, from her book called Scrumptious. I have most of her books and I refer to them often. Lynn has never let me down, if you don’t have one of her books, do yourself a favour and go get one!