Chicken drumstick minestrone
I love minestrone in all its forms but this version is particularly good. Take your time browning the chicken as it adds a huge amount of flavour to the dish. Drumsticks are great value and they’re the perfect choice for this meal-sized soup.
Cooking time
<1hr
Serves
4-6
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 6 Lilydale free range chicken drumsticks
- 1 large brown onion, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 400g can diced tomatoes
- 400 g can cannellini beans, drained
- 1 litre chicken stock
- ½ tsp salt
- 150 g short pasta (e.g. conchiglie)
- 2 cups baby spinach
- finely shredded parsley, to serve
- freshly grated parmesan and crusty bread, to serve
Method
- Heat a large casserole dish over medium heat, add the oil and fry the drumsticks until well browned on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pot and add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, potato and zucchini to the pot. Fry for about 10 minutes until softened, then add the tomato paste and oregano and stir through. Return the chicken to the pan and add the tomatoes, beans, stock, salt and 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Simmer covered for 20 minutes. Then add the pasta and simmer for a further 10 minutes until the pasta is al dente. Stir through the spinach, adjust for seasoning and serve with parsley, parmesan and crusty bread.
