Minestrone Soup

One night last week I was hungry and bored (whoooo meeee?) so I decided to cook.

See the thing is, I cook for a living--and I complain that the worst part of the job is the grocery shopping, so I will go to great lengths to keep from shopping on a day off.

It happens that I am housesitting for a client of mine who has the most fabulous vegetable garden (equipped with an English gardener!) and also a new Mario Batali pot that needed to be broken in.

So I went rummaging and this is what I came up with:

Mediterannean (the other coast) Minestrone Soup

1 pkg of Minestrone Bean Mix

or

Green lentils, any mixture of canned beans (white, red, black eyed, split, etc.) rinsed and Farro

2 boxes of chix stock (if using dry, less if using canned)

Tomato Paste

pancetta, diced finely (optional)

1 spring onion, diced finely

Herbes De Provence (thyme, rosemary, bay, lavender, fennel, marjoram)

swiss chard, chopped into 1" squares

Verjus (optional)

Garlic

2 preserved lemons (I use Robert Lambert--I writhe with pain if I can't)

S & P tt (to taste)

saute the onion and pancetta in soup pan (I usually use Le Cruset)

add tomato paste and herbes de provence and mix well

pour in chicken stock and minestrone mixture

cook until done

in seperate pan saute garlic and swiss chard in olive oil

deglaze with verjus and cook for another minute

season to taste

cover pan and turn off heat

chop the preserved lemon into fine dice

place the swiss chard into a bowl and cover with minestrone soup

garnish with the preserved lemon and serve

.:tt:.