20 July - minestrone and leftovers stew

Last night, I made up a pan of the minestrone we made on the Bordeaux Quay course last week, or at least from the recipe sheet I brought back, which was a bit different. I made it early so Tris could take some for his lunch, but when I took the lid off the pan at lunchtime, it looked a bit grey and unappetising. Thankfully, it tasted much better than it looked, especially with a good dollop of homemade pesto!

For the minestrone soup:

• Gently sweat some finely chopped onion, leek and carrot in olive oil.
• Add some sliced garlic, pancetta and finely diced potato.
• Add a good pile of fresh broad beans and some sliced tomatoes.
• Add enough chicken stock to easily cover the vegetables and some broken up pasta (I used linguine snapped into short lengths).
• Simmer for 20 mins or so.

Note: I really should have blanched the broad beans first and slipped them out of their skins - a bit of a faff, I know, but it really would've been worth it.

For the pesto; chop up a big handful of fresh basil, a handful of toasted hazelnuts, some crushed garlic and a grating of parmesan. Add a good slosh of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

We were meant to be going out to a comedy event this evening, so I hadn't got anything in for dinner. By the time Tris got home though, it was absolutely tipping it down with rain and I really couldn't face an evening sitting in a cold, damp tent, so I bailed out and he took his brother instead. That left me at home with an almost empty fridge. After a bit of rummaging through the cupboard, I made up a stew with chorizo, lentils, tinned tomatoes, a leek and a bit of carrot. The result was another rather unpromising-looking bowl of splodge, but it was actually really tasty and warming on a chilly evening.