Irish Style Spiced Winter Minestrone Broth

Name: Irish Style Spiced Winter Minestrone Broth
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Irish
Ingredients: (ingredient); 2 Cans Plum or Chopped Tomatoes; 1 Large Red Bell Pepper; 1 Large Onion; (ingredient); 3 Tablespoons Chilli Infused Stir Fry Oil; 3 Tablespoons Light Olive Oil; (ingredient); 3 Tablespoons Ground Mild Chilli; 3 Tablespoons Ground Black Pepper; 2 Tablespoons Dried Mixed Herbs; 2 Tablespoons Dried Basil; 2 Tablespoons Dried Oregano; 3 Tablespoons Dried Parsley; 1 Tablespoon Ground Garlic; 1 Teaspoon Salt; (ingredient); 3 Tablespoons Castor Sugar; 3 Tablespoons Tomato Sauce or Puree; 4 Tablespoons Hennessy Brandy; (ingredient); 2oz Butter; 3oz Cheddar or Mozzarella Cheese Cubes; (ingredient); 1 Packet Par-baked Ciabatta Bread or Bread Rolls; 100g Organic Fusili Pasta; (ingredient); 4 Oxo Beef Cubes; 850mls Freshly Boiled Water

Over a year ago 3,053 views

Cook: 30 mins

Serves: 4

Irish Soup

Ingredients

(ingredient)
2 Cans Plum or Chopped Tomatoes
1 Large Red Bell Pepper
1 Large Onion
(ingredient)
3 Tablespoons Chilli Infused Stir Fry Oil
3 Tablespoons Light Olive Oil
(ingredient)
3 Tablespoons Ground Mild Chilli
3 Tablespoons Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Dried Mixed Herbs
2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
2 Tablespoons Dried Oregano
3 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
1 Tablespoon Ground Garlic
1 Teaspoon Salt
(ingredient)
3 Tablespoons Castor Sugar
3 Tablespoons Tomato Sauce or Puree
4 Tablespoons Hennessy Brandy
(ingredient)
2oz Butter
3oz Cheddar or Mozzarella Cheese Cubes
(ingredient)
1 Packet Par-baked Ciabatta Bread or Bread Rolls
100g Organic Fusili Pasta
(ingredient)
4 Oxo Beef Cubes
850mls Freshly Boiled Water

Accompaniment

Description

I wrote this little recipe today because I was in the mood for something nice! Coupled with Irish music playing in the background, I achieved the athmosphere of a grand hooley!

Method

1
First of all, we weigh out the fusili pasta (twirly or spiral pasta!), transfer to your saucepan. Add enough water to just cover the pasta and add a little light olive oil to the water and bring to the boil.
2
Remove from the heat and allow to cook for a further 12-14 minutes until the pasta is soft and then using a collander, drain the pasta and transfer the pasta into a little glass bowl and add the the butter and stir that through and just leave it to cool for the moment.
3
Next we start on the broth by first of all adding the light olive oil, full contents of the can of tomatoes, tomato sauce, chilli oil, herbs and spices, salt and black pepper, sugar, onion and bell pepper and blend until smooth.
4
While the broth is blending in your mini processor or larger processor, we make our beef stock by adding 500 mls of boiling water to four crumbled oxo beef stock cubes and pouring that stock into your larger cooking pot and then top it up with 350mls boiling water.
5
You can now stop your processor and add the contents of your blended broth to the beef stock and gently give it a little stir around.
6
On the day that I made this broth, I decided to rinse out the processor and blend everything again until it was quite smooth but still retained a little texture that you could almost see the shredded red pepper peeping through! At this point, you can also start to pre-heat your oven to 180oC for your par-baked bread.
7
Pour the twice blended broth back into your larger cooking pot and now add the cooked pasta and gently stir it around.
8
Follow the instructions for your par-baked bread and bake for minimum 8 to maximum 10 minutes depending on your personal choice of bread.
9
Add a little extra mild ground chilli, garlic, parsley, chilli infused oil, black pepper and a shake of salt and gently stir through and on a moderate heat (No. 6 on the hob)
10
Just before you serve the broth, this is the time to add the Hennessy Brandy which is a mild brandy.
11
Keep an eye on the oven timer as you'll be serving up soon!
12
When your bread is baked, simply slice it and allow the steam to rise and garnish your broth with extra parsley and cubes or thin slices of cheddar cheese and let that cheese just melt all the way through!
13
Enjoy!

** Original Recipe by L. Shannon, The Candlebridge Bakery & Soup Kitchen. January 28th 2012 **

Chef's Tips

My Star Tips!

1. Always add the olive oil first before the tomato ketchup because the tomato ketchup will simply glide off the oiled spoon if you do!

2. You can also add mozzarella cheese or your favourite cheese! I just happen to love cheddar and the stronger more mature cheddar, the better!

3. If you wish to make your own croutons, simply take a slice of thick white bread, and cut into cubes, take a little oven dish and drizzle the bread with olive oil, shakes of garlic, salt, black pepper, tumeric, herbs and chilli and toss them until each piece of “crouton” are covered and bake at the same time you are baking the bread! Garnish your broth with home made croutons!

4. If you prefer a stronger flavour, then I would suggest Martell Brandy which is what I usually use for the French Onion Soup recipe but I would suggest a light flavour brandy for this particular recipe as you really want the tomato and herbs to be the dominant flavour with that hint of beef twinkling through and the brandy that gives it that extra kick!