Zuppa di pasta con patete e porri

Last night I made Zuppa di pasta con patete e porri from 'Gino's pasta' cookbook. 

It's described as an Italian soup, but I can tell you it's so much more. It's full of potatoes, carrots, pancetta, pasta and..... Parmesan cheese 😀

When I browsed through the book I thought this would be a good Friday dinner, as it looked like it could be 45 minutes - 1 hour, and I have more time on a Friday. 

Soooo, verdict? It took me an hour, but I was being pretty slow at my prep! It was a lovely simple recipe, chop a few bits, leave them in pan, add some more and simmer. It was great as I could leave the pot on the stove and I had a coffee and read a book for 20 minutes half way through..... Or in reality I read a book and tried to drink my coffee while my daughters played hairdresser.... I was the victim, I lost count of how many clips and bands were stabbed into my head.

I had taken a crusty loaf out of the freezer that morning, so I popped that in the oven at 100 deg Celsius for 5 minutes, it made it lovely warm and fresh, just like it had come fresh from the bakers!

So how did it all taste.... Bloomin gorgeous! Really tasty. I added salt as requested, but I think with the pancetta, Parmesan and stock already in, it didn't need it. So next time I won't add salt. It was lovely and fresh tasty, a clear thin soup with the pasta, meat and veg floating in it. My husband described it as more of an Italian stew... Which I think is pretty apt. It is the kind of meal that suits any weather. My children loved it, as Morgan explained it was her favourites foods in one, bacon, pasta and soup. She had seconds!!! 

My only point to note, I made lots thinking I could freeze it, which I can, but the potato and pasta etc has absorbed a lot of the fluid while it was cooling, so now pasta not aldente and the sauce is thick not thin. But still tastes yummy, so more of a pasta meal than soup now.