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Photo of Green minestrone by WW

Green minestrone

4
Points® value
Total Time
25 min
Prep
5 min
Cook
20 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
Orzo pasta, loads of vegetables and herbs, and a dollop of pesto come together in this simple soup that’s bursting with spring flavours.

Ingredients

Broad beans, boiled

150 g

Calorie controlled cooking spray

4 spray(s)

Shallots

1 medium, finely chopped

Celery, Raw

1 stick(s), finely chopped

Garlic

2 clove(s), crushed

Vegetable stock cube

2 cube(s), to make 1 litre stock

Orzo, cooked

150 g, cooked as per pack

Peas, fresh or frozen

150 g, frozen

Reduced fat green pesto

40 g

Basil, fresh

1 tablespoon(s), finely chopped, plus extra leaves, to serve

Lemon

1 zest(s) of 1, grated

Vegetarian parmesan style hard cheese

20 g, grated, to serve

Instructions

  1. Cook the beans in boiling water for 2 minutes, until just tender. Drain, then refresh in cold water and drain again. Remove and discard the skins from the beans, then set aside. Mist a large nonstick pan with cooking spray and set over a medium heat. Add the shallot and celery and cook for 6-8 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and cook for another 1 minute.
  2. Pour in the stock and bring to a gentle simmer, then add the orzo pasta and cook for 7 minutes. Stir in the peas, broad beans and pesto, then cook for a further 4 minutes. Season to taste, then stir in the chopped basil and lemon zest and serve with extra fresh basil leaves and grated cheese scattered over.

Notes

Cook’s tip This is a great recipe for using fresh peas – as a rule, peas in their pods will weigh about twice as much as when they’re shelled, so for 150g of shelled peas, you’ll need 300g of peas in the pod.

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