How I Turn Whatever Garden Vegetables I Have into a Healthy Italian Meal | Patch to Plate Series

How I Turn Whatever Garden Vegetables I Have into a Healthy Italian Meal | Patch to Plate Series If you are looking for a healthy Italian meal that uses whatever vegetables you already have, this is the kind of simple home cooking I love most. Potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, borlotti beans and chard come together with olive oil, onion, carrot, celery, chilli, fresh basil and parsley to make a wonderfully comforting Mediterranean meal. But there is no rigid recipe to follow. Use the vegetables you have, leave out the ones you don't, and make the dish your own. In this Patch to Plate episode, I start with a simple Italian soffritto and slowly build the flavours before adding the vegetables, potatoes and beans. I had originally intended to use pasta, but Julie reminded me that we still had potatoes from the garden, so I changed my mind. And that really is the point of today's cooking. You don't always need a recipe or every ingredient on a list to make something delicious. Sometimes the best meals begin by simply looking at what you already have and using a little imagination. Towards the end of the video, we head back into our vegetable patch to show you where many of today's ingredients started life. It hasn't been the easiest growing year, but even a handful of home-grown vegetables can become part of something nourishing and delicious. This isn't about following rules or recreating my bowl exactly. Substitute what you have and adjust it to suit you. You could even use pasta instead of potatoes. I explain how I would add pasta and why, if you are making enough for another day, I prefer to cook it separately so it doesn't continue absorbing the broth while it sits. Your kitchen, your rules. Follow Tortellino: ▶️ YOUTUBE: / @TortellinoTime ▶️ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/groups/96920... Ingredients — Serves 4 400 g (14 oz) potatoes, chopped, skin on or peeled 250 g (9 oz) tomatoes, red, yellow or a mixture 200 g (7 oz) zucchini/courgette, chopped 150 g (5 oz) green beans/French beans, trimmed and chopped 100 g (3½ oz) Cranberry or Borlotti beans (cooked or fresh) 100 g (3½ oz) Swiss chard, roughly chopped 1 medium onion, about 150 g (5 oz), finely chopped 1 medium carrot, about 100 g (3½ oz), finely chopped 1 celery stalk, about 50 g (1¾ oz), finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 small mild chilli, finely sliced 1 tbsp tomato purée 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra for serving 100 ml (3½ fl oz / scant ½ cup) dry white wine, or the same amount of water A small handful of fresh basil A small handful of fresh parsley 1 bay leaf Approximately 1 litre (1¾ UK pints / 4¼ US cups) hot water, or enough to cover the vegetables Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Method Start by gently cooking the finely chopped onion, carrot and celery with the garlic and chilli in olive oil. Give everything a couple of minutes together so the vegetables begin to soften and create the flavour base for the meal. Add the tomato purée and mix it through the vegetables. Add the borlotti beans and green beans, followed by half a glass of dry white wine. Water is absolutely fine instead if you prefer not to cook with wine. Leave the pan uncovered for a few minutes so the wine evaporates and the mixture becomes fairly dry. This concentrates the flavours before the rest of the vegetables go in. Add the chopped potatoes with their skins left on, followed by the zucchini, chard and tomatoes. Add some of the basil and parsley and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix everything together, then pour in enough hot water to cover the vegetables by approximately 5 cm (2 in). Bring everything to the boil, reduce the heat, add the bay leaf and partially cover the pan so that some of the liquid can evaporate. Leave it to cook gently for around 40 minutes, or until the potatoes and vegetables are beautifully tender. When everything is cooked, add another handful of fresh basil and parsley and leave it for another couple of minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. If you would rather use pasta, add it towards the end and allow it to cook in the broth. If you are planning to keep some of the meal for another day, I prefer to cook the pasta separately and add it to each portion. Pasta left sitting in the broth will continue absorbing the liquid and can become too soft. Serve generously in a bowl with a little extra virgin olive oil over the top. And remember that the vegetables I used are only a guide. Use what you have and make it your own. 00:00 Making a healthy Italian meal with what I have 00:30 Building the Italian soffritto 01:47 Adding potatoes, beans & garden vegetables 03:14 Slow cooking everything together 04:33 Serving, tasting & pasta alternatives 06:27 Back to our vegetable patch #ItalianCooking #PatchToPlate #HealthyRecipes #MediterraneanDiet #GardenToTable #TortellinoTime