For the last television series I enjoyed the Italian summer but today I have an Italian solution for our winter.

This minestrone soup with the warm chunky beans and pasta is tasty and filling at any time of the day. I sometimes use rice instead of the pasta and it works just as well. It’s healthy and nutritious.

This butter bean and bacon soup has a lovely spicy kick that complements the sweetness of the carrots. A small amount of bacon goes a long way in adding flavour and blitzing the butter beans gives good texture.

The chicken, shiitake and cannelini bean is another nutritious and healthy soup that tastes terrific.

Palm sugar is made from the sap of the sugar palm and nipa palm and is now becoming more widely available outside of ethnic supermarkets. If you don’t have it, you could use coconut sugar instead.

Happy cooking,

Neven

The Nation’s Favourite Healthy Food by Neven Maguire is published by Gill Books, priced at €22.99

Minestrone soup with pesto

Serves six

2tbsp olive oil

One onion, diced

Two carrots, diced

Two celery sticks, trimmed and diced

One fennel bulb, trimmed and diced

One small red chilli, seeded and diced

Two garlic cloves, crushed

150g (5oz) spaghetti, snapped into short lengths

Two 400g cans chopped tomatoes

1tbsp tomato puree

1.2 litres (2 pints) vegetable stock (homemade or from a cube is fine)

100g (4oz) green beans, trimmed and diced

1tbsp torn fresh basil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pesto, to garnish or good-quality shop-bought)

  • 1 Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, fennel, chilli and garlic. Sauté for five minutes until softened but not beginning to brown. Stir in the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until the liquid has slightly reduced and all the vegetables are completely tender.
  • 2 Add the spaghetti to the vegetable soup mixture and simmer for another 10 minutes until the spaghetti is al dente – tender but still with a little bite.
  • 3 Stir in the green beans and basil, then season to taste and cook for another minute or two until the beans are just tender.
  • 4 Ladle into warmed bowls and then add a swirl of pesto to each one to serve.

    • Butter bean and bacon soup

    Serves six

    1tbsp Donegal rapeseed oil

    One onion, diced

    50g (2oz) rindless smoked streaky bacon, diced

    One garlic clove, crushed

    1tsp freshly grated root ginger

    450g (1lb) carrots, diced

    1tsp ground turmeric

    1tbsp mild curry powder

    1tbsp tomato puree

    One 400g can butter beans, drained and rinsed

    1.2 litres (2 pints) vegetable stock (homemade or from a cube is fine)

    200ml (7fl oz) semi-skimmed milk

    1tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 Heat the rapeseed oil in a pan and sauté the onion, bacon, garlic, ginger and carrots for 10 minutes until softened and just beginning to catch a little colour. Stir in spices and cook for another two minutes, stirring.
  • 2 Stir in the tomato puree, beans, stock and milk. Bring to the boil, then reduce that heat and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until the carrots are completely tender. Season to taste and stir in the parsley. Remove a ladleful of the chunky ingredients to reserve as a garnish, if liked.
  • 3 Blitz the rest of the soup with a hand blender until smooth. Season to taste and ladle into warmed bowls and add a spoonful of the reserved ingredients to serve.

    • Chicken, shiitake and cannellini bean soup

    Serves four to six

    25g (1oz) dried shiitake mushrooms

    1.2 litres (2 pints) chicken stock (homemade or from cubes is fine)

    Four skinless chicken thighs, boned and diced

    2.5cm (1in) piece root ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

    1tsp harissa paste

    2tbsp soy sauce

    2tsp palm sugar

    2tbsp cornflour

    400g can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

    Fresh coriander leaves, to garnish

    Griddled sourdough bread, to serve

  • 1 Soak the mushrooms in boiling water for 20 minutes. Use a bowl to help the mushrooms get completely submerged in the water.
  • 2 Meanwhile, mix the cornflour in a bowl with a little water to a smooth paste. Set aside until needed.
  • 3 When the mushrooms have softened, drain through a fine sieve and reserve the soaking liquid, then thinly slice the mushrooms. Place the chicken stock into a large pan and add the sliced mushrooms, diced chicken, ginger and harrisa paste. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
  • 4 Pour in the reserved mushroom soaking liquid and then stir in the cornflour mixture, soy sauce, palm sugar and cannellini beans. Bring back to a simmer and season to taste. Cook for another minute or two, stirring until the cornflour has slightly thickened the soup. Ladle into warmed bowls and garnish with the coriander leaves. Place the griddled bread on the side to serve.