isithalal.food · Recipes

Classic minestrone without pancetta

Esther Clark's classic minestrone with onion, celery, carrot, courgette, cannellini beans, tomatoes, small pasta and greens, using Halal beef bacon or nothing instead of smoked pancetta.

Italian · Main · Easy · 6 bowls · 65 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The soup base is fried with 70 g of diced smoked pancetta, which is cured pork, and it is finished with parmesan, which is made with animal rennet.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Smoked pancetta: The published recipe fries 70 g of diced smoked pancetta, which is cured pork, with the vegetables. Beef bacon contains no pork but is Halal only from Halal-slaughtered animals with certification. Use Halal-certified beef bacon, or leave it out, as here. See Bacon.
• Parmesan: Parmigiano Reggiano must be made with calf rennet, and other hard cheeses may use animal rennet. Scholars differ on rennet from animals not slaughtered the Halal way. Use a hard cheese that names microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet, or one your school accepts. See Parmesan.
• Small pasta: Dried wheat pasta is fine; egg pasta needs its label read. Read the pasta label. See Pasta.

Ingredients

Soup

• 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 courgette, finely chopped
• 70 g Halal-certified beef bacon, diced, or leave out (our swap for smoked pancetta)
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 400 g can of cannellini beans
• 400 g can of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1.2 litres vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 70 g small pasta
• 100 g greens: kale, chard or cavolo nero

To serve

• a handful basil
• to serve parmesan or another hard cheese, finely grated (see the rennet check below)

Method

1. Soften the vegetables. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or casserole over a low-medium heat and gently fry the onion, celery, carrot, courgette and Halal beef bacon, if using, for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and oregano and cook for 1 minute.
2. Simmer. Tip in the beans, chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, stock and bay leaf, and season. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
3. Add the pasta and greens. Add the pasta and greens and cook for 10 minutes more.
4. Serve. Ladle into bowls and scatter with the basil, some grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

Allergens

celery, gluten (pasta), milk (parmesan)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Classic minestrone soup' by Esther Clark (serves 6: 1 onion, 1 celery stick, 1 carrot and 1 courgette finely chopped and fried gently with 70 g diced smoked pancetta in 3 tbsp olive oil for 10 minutes; 1 crushed garlic clove and ½ tsp dried oregano for 1 minute; a 400 g can of cannellini beans, a 400 g can of chopped tomatoes, 2 tbsp tomato purée, 1.2 litres vegetable stock and a bay leaf simmered 30 minutes; 70 g small pasta and 100 g kale, chard or cavolo nero for 10 minutes more; basil and grated parmesan to serve). We replaced the pancetta with the same weight of Halal-certified beef bacon, or none for a meat-free soup; that swap is ours. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph of a minestrone by bob (waldopics) on Flickr (CC BY 2.0), not the finished dish from this recipe.