What do you do when you arrive home and open the fridge for the meat and find that you forgot to defrost it!

So no beef stew today, oh well, what have we got in the fridge? Rustle up some veg and try this hearty vegetable and pasta soup with a little meat just to keep everyone happy! Use up the old bits of parmesan cheese left to melt and flavour and serve with warm fresh crusty bread, delicious. Freeze any leftover soup for another day, very useful.

Why do we call sausages ‘Bangers’? After World War 1, food shortages led to a dramatic reduction of meat, and very little meat went into the sausage, instead butchers packed them out with scraps of cereal and water causing them to pop and hiss when cooked on the soldier’s shovels over open fires in the trenches of Northern Europe, hence ‘bangers’.
Don’t prick your sausages when cooking so they retain all the fats, makes for a nice juicy sausage!

Minestrone
2 tblsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 red onions, chopped
3oz/ 75g chopped prosciutto air-dried ham, I used smoked bacon
1 red and 1 orange pepper deseeded and chopped
large tin chopped tomotoes
1¾pt /1 litre veggie stock
1 celery stick, sliced
large tin drained borlotti beans or butter beans or mixed beans?
4oz /110g shredded green leafy cabbage
3oz / 75g frozen peas, thawed
3oz / 75g dried vermicelli pasta
salt & pepper
Heat oil in large saucepan, add garlic, onions and prosicutto and cook over medium heat stirring until slightly soft. Add peppers and tomatoes, and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring.
Stir in stock, and then add celery, beans, cabbage, peas and parsley, season to taste.
Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add pasta bring to the boil and cook for another 10 minutes.
Serve in warm bowls garnished with parmesan and chopped parsley.

Enjoy!