Recipe: how to make Alexandra Feswick’s garlicky sausage minestrone

PREP TIME: 10 minutes COOK TIME: 1 hour 10 minutes Serves 6 to 8

MINESTRONE SOUP

1 onion, diced 1 large carrot, chopped 1 celery stalk, chopped 1 zucchini, chopped 1 tbsp olive oil ¼ lb pepperoni or dry cured sausage, sliced 1 garlic clove, minced 2 stems fresh oregano 2 stems fresh basil ½ cup red wine 1 28-oz can tomatoes 2 cups chicken broth 1 ¼ cups fresh spinach leaves 1 can red kidney beans

GARNISH

Parmesan, freshly grated Cracked black pepper

1. Sauté vegetables in an oiled pot over medium-high heat with pepperoni, garlic, oregano and one basil stem. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes until softened. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add remaining ingredients except garnishes.

2. Simmer for 1 hour. Remove basil and oregano stems. Garnish with Parmesan, pepper and remaining basil.

TIP Make soup a day in advance and store in an airtight jar. The flavour improves as it sits. Serve it with a loaf of crusty fresh bread and a glass of red wine for the perfect cold-weather meal.

ALEXANDRA FESWICK Alexandra Feswick spent the last year running the kitchen at Samuel J. Moore, the elegant bistro in the historic Great Hall, where she served duck carpaccio and bone marrow-laced sirloin burgers to a steady stream of Queen West cosmopolites. Her cooking is at its best in the fall, when comfort food is in season. This traditional soup, a favourite from Feswick’s Italian mom, is smoky, veggie-loaded and spiked with garlic, which her mom believes wards off colds. If Feswick had to choose a last meal, this would be it.

Recipes developed by Victoria Walsh. Recipe photography by Ryan Szulc. Illustrations by Aleksandar Janicijevic. Interviews by Meaghan Binstock, Chantal Braganza, Matthew Hague, Peter Saltsman, Courtney Shea and Caroline Youdan.