Mama's Minestrone Soup

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups fresh vegetables for each person - Mama preferred cauliflower, peas, potato, carrots, celery and onions in her Miistrone soup.
• salt and pepper to taste
• grated cheese

Method

Heat extra virgin olive oil in a large saucepan, then add vegetables, onions first. Stir for about seven minutes before adding water which should come a couple of inches above vegetables.

Bring to the boil and then bring down to simmer for 45 minutes or until vegetables are cooked. Add the cooked short pasta of your choice and serve with parmesan cheese.

Mama would often want a bit of a tomato taste in her dishes, so she would add some diced Italian tomatoes from a can or some seasoned canned tomato soup - but don't overdo it.

Memories of Mama

Oh, how Mama hated uninteresting soup, ie those with more liquid than substance. She felt Engleses could not cook much at all, let alone hearty meals. To her, soup that you could suck up with a straw was not a meal.