UR TV CAST

We could see a return to three generations of a family sharing the same house, as they do in the sentimental American TV series, The Waltons. Adjust the seasoning.Serve the minestrone with a generous addition of olive oil to each serving, and accompany it with a bowl of Parmesan. Put them in a pestle and mortar with the olive oil and crush, as far as possible, to a paste.Some 20 minutes before the minestrone is to be served, add the pasta and the spinach leaves. Stop cooking the soup while the macaroni is still firm to the bite Stir in the pesto and allow to stand for a few minutes. Place these vegetables with the peas and tomato in a large saucepan along with the water, olive oil and garlic cloves, sliced. Add some salt and simmer the soup, uncovered, for at least 2 hours.To prepare the pesto, finely chop the herbs and garlic together.

Trim the beans and cut into 2.5 cm/one inch lengths, and trim and slice the celery and leeks. As exact amounts are not possible, you must balance the amount of liquid to bread so that the soup is very thick.Minestrone, serves 4-62 carrots1 potato110g/4oz celeriac, weight excluding skin1 small aubergine225g/8 oz courgette110g/4 oz green beans1 stick celery2 leeks110g/4oz peas1 beefsteak tomato, skinned, seeded and chopped2.3 litres/4 pints water4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil2 garlic cloves, peeledsea salt110g/4oz macaroni25g/1oz vermicelli, broken into 2.5 cm/l” lengths175g/6 oz young spinach leavesTo serve: extra virgin olive oil, freshly grated ParmesanPesto:25g/1oz basil leaves25g/1oz flat-leaf parsley2 garlic cloves1 tbsp extra virgin olive oilPeel the carrots and potato and cut into neat 1 cm/half-inch cubes Also cube the celeriac, aubergine and courgette. Add the tomatoes and continue to cook on a gentle heat for a further 30 minutes, then add the cavolo nero and half the beans with enough of their liquid to cover. Simmer for 30 minutes.Puree the remaining beans in a food processor and return to the soup with just enough boiling water to make the soup liquid. Return to the boil, cover and simmer for about an hour until tender, skimming occasionally. Reserve in cooking water.150g/5 oz cannellini or borlotti beans, cooked1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped1 whole head celery, chopped225g/8 oz carrots, peeled and chopped2 medium red onions, peeled and chopped2 tbsp olive oil1 x 400g tin peeled plum tomatoes, drained of their juices550g/1 1/4 lb cavolo nero, stalks removed, leaves coarsely chopped1 loaf of stale ciabatta bread, crusts removed, sliced or tornsea salt, black pepper, extra virgin olive oilFry the parsley leaves, garlic, celery, carrot and onion in a large saucepan for about 30 minutes until the flavours combine.

Drain the beans and place in a saucepan, cover with fresh cold water and bring to the boil Simmer for 10 minutes, then drain again. Bring to a simmer and skim off any foam, then cook over a low heat for an hour. Stir in the parsley, adjust seasoning and serve each bowl with more olive oil drizzled over.River Cafe’s Ribollita, serves 4-6To cook the canellini beans, soak 75g/3 oz dried beans in a generous amount of water overnight with half a tablespoon bicarbonate of soda. Cut the skin off the butternut squash, remove seeds and slice the flesh.Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and sweat the onion, celery and chilli for a few minutes.

Adjust seasoning, drizzle a little olive oil over each bowl and serve with the Parmesan.Barley and vegetable soup, serves 4-6I’d go for thick slices of toasted French bread with this, moistened with olive oil.275g/10 oz tomatoes450g/1lb butternut squash2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil1 onion, peeled and chopped1 celery heart, sliced1/2 tsp finely chopped red chilli175g/6 oz barley soaked for 2 hours and drained2 litres/31/2 pints vegetable stock1 bay leaf,1 sprig thyme400g/14 oz new potatoes, peeled and cut into 2.5 cm/1″ piecessea salt, black pepper5 tbsp coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsleyTo serve: extra virgin olive oilSkin the tomatoes by plunging them into a pan of boiling water for 20 seconds, and then into a sink of cold water, slip off the skins and chop them, discarding the core. The liquor takes on a comforting viscosity enriched with the necessary olive-green slick of oil. A small oil slick on top of your minestra is one of the best uses for them.Pearl barley disappeared from my life for a long period, but I have rediscovered it in thick barley and vegetable soups. The new season’s oils, harvested last autumn and just filtering into the shops, range from intensely peppery and spicy, to more sedate. I have traced this to a specialist greengrocer, but it’s not easy to come by and you may have to settle for Swiss chard, or the dark green outer leaves of Savoy cabbage or kale.It is the River Cafe’s slipped-hand approach with the olive oil that makes the soup so luxurious. Essential to its authenticity is covolo nero, a spindly dark green cabbage with puckered leaves like seersucker. The texture of leeks in such a soup is sublime, beefed up with porcini.The River Cafe are past masters at this kind of fare; their ribollita is a particular triumph.

So, for once, those capricious loaves of ciabatta that fade and die so instantly come in handy.Pappa a1 pomodoro is the delicious pink, pappy tomato soup made with bread that is so good in summer But winter vegetables lend themselves to the same idea. If added at the end, and left just long enough to soak up some of the liquor, it has the same appeal as dumplings But the bread needs to be stale to hold its own. I like my minestrone with pesto stirred into it at the end, and plenty of freshly grated Parmesan and olive oil.The golden rule for minestrone, and all soups for that matter, is that if the vegetables aren’t good enough to eat as they are, then they’re not good enough for the pot.Bread is so much at home in a broth that in south-west France, la soup is patois for bread. There is no stock involved, just water that turns into a nice vegetable broth as it progresses.