Marvellous Minestrone

In my last post, I wrote about my annual ritual of preparing ham stock from scratch.  It is with this same stock that has had the excess fat skimmed off the top and the meat separated from the bone, skin and fat, that I turn into a truly marvellous minestrone.

My Minestrone Soup

a glug of olive oil
1 medium sized onion
1/4 stick of leek
1/3 stick of celery
1/2 carrot
1 small-medium sized potato
1/2 small-medium swede
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 zucchini
1/4 green capsicum
1/2 cup peeled fresh borlotti beans
a handful of green beans
5 kale leaves
1.5 litres of ham stock plus the ham from the hock
1-2 cups of hot water as required
1 rind of parmesan cheese which has been cleaned
a good pinch of salt or two
a grind a black pepper
1 bay leaf
handful of fresh basil leaves
1 small bunch of flat leaf parsley to finish it off

Dice the onion, leek, celery and carrot into small pieces all about the same size and set aside.  I take the time at this point to wash/peel and dice the potato and swede into small cubes.  The garlic I chop finely, however you can use a garlic crusher or mince it finely - whatever takes your fancy.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan that will accommodate the soup, the bigger the better so you don't have to worry about overfilling the pot.  Gently fry the onion, leek, celery and carrot with a pinch of salt until the onion becomes transparent.  Add the potato and swede and cook for a few minutes. Add the ham from the hock, which has been diced as well as the stock and stir through.  The stock would have become a solid jelly-like mass in the bowl when it cools, gently tip it out of the bowl and scrape out the leftover bits to ensure that nothing goes to waste.  

Let this heat through.  As the stock heats up it will become liquid again.  Add the chopped garlic.  
Let everything come to the boil and drop the heat to a gentle simmer.  Pop the rind of the parmesan and herbs into the soup.  Let it all cook for at least 45 minutes to allow the flavours to be enriched by the parmesan.  
At this point, I tend to dice the remaining vegetables in similar sizes, however I am conscious of how quickly some of the 'softer' vegetables will cook so I tend to chop these in slightly larger sizes so they do not cook away to nothing.  

Add the pasta, another pinch of salt and some water, if it is required once once the pasta is in the pot.  
The aim is to have enough liquid to allow the pasta to cook evenly.  I prefer to use spirals as this is what my mother always uses and why break with tradition?

Let the pasta cook for about five minutes.  When the it is almost done, add the remaining vegetables.  Cook the soup for a further two to three minutes until the pasta is cooked;  test the potatoes to ensure that they are cooked as well.  Taste the broth to check the seasoning and correct as required.

Serve this piping hot sprinkled with the freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley and a piece of fresh gluten-free bread.

A Scrumptious Winter Stock

One ritual that I have when the cool weather arrives is to make a delicious ham stock which I use as a fantastic base for many soups.  I have memories of my mother making ham stock in preparation for ham and pea soup as a child - the delicious smell would fill the kitchen and drift through the house.  The bone and bits of ham would have been squirrelled away from the Christmas ham that we had each year.  Every morsel of rind, skin and eventually the bone were saved in a container in the freezer to be utilised a few months later in a stock. It is with these fond memories that I make this.

1 gluten-free ham hock - ask your butcher or deli owner if it is;  some a labelled as gluten-free which is great
1/2 onion
1/3 carrot
1/4 stick of celery
1/4 of a leek - either the white or light green part is fine;  ensure that it is well washed
6 pepper corns
1 bay leaf
a small pinch of salt
approximately 2.5 litres of water

Place all ingredients into a stock pan or large saucepan that will accommodate the ham hock and enough water to cover it.  Ensure that the water covers the hock;  this may be more or less than the specified amount.  Don't worry if it is, you only need to ensure that everything is covered by water.

Bring everything to the boil and let it cook gently for approximately two hours or until the meat falls off the bone.  The level of the liquid will have dropped significantly.  This is what you want, there is no need to add any more water.

Once you reach this point pick the bone and any large pieces of vegetables or meat that you can out of the stock.  Separate the meat from the vegetables as best as you can.  Strain all of the vegetables, remaining smaller pieces of meat and herbs from the stock, into a large bowl.  Pick the pieces of meat out and add to the bowl of meat that you already have.  Discard the vegetables and herbs, they are no longer required as all of their flavour has gone into the stock.  

Let the stock and meat cool overnight in the fridge to allow the fat to set on the top of the stock.  Remove this carefully with a spoon or knife before using.  Before using the meat, I separate the meat from the skin and fat so that it can be added to the dish that I am cooking.  

You now have a lovely ham stock ready to use, complete with scrumptious meaty morsels to accompany the stock.