Marvellous Minestrone Soup

Mary shares her recipe for minestrone soup - it has a lot of ingredients and is a meal in itself!

Serves 4

Ingredients
3 slices of bacon
120g chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
120g ground beef
100g minced celery
100g cubed carrots
360g tomato puree
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1litre vegetable stock
900 ml water
50ml red wine
2g dried oregano
1g dried basil
90 g zucchini
50g spinach, rinsed and sliced
190g uncooked pasta
1 can beans, drained
15g chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Method
In a large stockpot, cook the bacon and drain off the fat.
Add onion, garlic, and beef.
When onions are translucent, add celery, carrot, pureed tomatoes, whole tomatoes, vegetable stock, water, wine, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
Cook for 15 minutes.
Stir in zucchini, spinach, pasta, beans and parsley.
Cook for 15 minutes more and serve with fresh Parmesan cheese.