🇲🇹 Maltese Cuisine

Minestra

Maltese Thick Vegetable Soup

Prep Time 20 min
Servings 6
Difficulty Easy
Calories 262 kcal

A thick, hearty Maltese vegetable soup loaded with seasonal vegetables, beans, and small pasta, served as a complete meal with crusty bread.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 potatoes, cubed
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 1 turnip, diced
  • 200g pumpkin, cubed
  • 200g cauliflower florets
  • 200g fresh or frozen peas
  • 400g canned beans (white or broad)
  • 150g small pasta (tubetti)
  • 1.5L vegetable stock
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • Salt, pepper, fresh parsley

Instructions

  1. 1 Heat olive oil, sauté onion until translucent.
  2. 2 Add potatoes, carrots, turnip, pumpkin, and cauliflower. Stir 3 min.
  3. 3 Add tomato paste, pour in stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer 20 min.
  4. 4 Add peas, beans, and pasta. Cook 10 min until pasta is tender.
  5. 5 Season with salt and pepper. The soup should be very thick.
  6. 6 Serve in deep bowls with chopped parsley, olive oil, and crusty Maltese bread.

Did You Know?

Maltese minestra is intentionally thick enough for a spoon to nearly stand up in — if it is thin, it is not minestra.

From The Culinary Codex — http://theculinarycodex.com/dish/maltese/minestra/