This meal, which is packed with vegetables and legumes, is inspired by food from one of the world’s Blue Zones
A chef has shared a “delicious” one-pot soup recipe that he says could help you “live to 100”. This meal, which is packed with vegetables and legumes, is inspired by food from one of the world’s Blue Zones – areas where people live extraordinarily long lives.
Italian chef Francesco Mattana took to social media platform TikTok to share his “live to 100 minestrone” recipe. In the caption, he explained to his more than 300,000 followers: “This minestrone is comforting and delicious, full of vegetables and legumes.
“Sardinia is one of the rare Blue Zones in the world, which means people are more likely to live to 100 years old. This, of course, is because of many factors, but one in particular is the diet.”
According to Francesco, part of what makes the Sardinian diet so healthy is the use of fresh, seasonal ingredients. He continued: “Our diet is full of seasonal vegetables and legumes, and this minestrone is something that you will find very often.
“Sometimes, to add as well some carbs, we also add fregula, a type of pasta similar to giant couscous. You can use either dry chickpeas and beans for this and soak/cook them in advance, or you can use them straight from the tin.”
To serve four, the ingredients are as follows:
- One onion (roughly chopped)
- Two celery sticks (chopped into large chunks – about 1cm cubes)
- One large carrot (chopped into large chunks – about 1cm cubes)
- Two garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- Three sun-dried tomatoes (finely chopped)
- 15g basil (finely chopped)
- 15g parsley (finely chopped)
- 250g tin of barlotti beans
- 250g tin of chickpeas
- One large potato
- One large fresh tomatoes (roughly chopped into large chunks)
- Olive oil
- Savoy cabbage (seven leaves roughly chopped)
- Pecorino and/or stale bread to grate at the end
- Salt and pepper.
Not only is this soup packed with nutrients and flavour but it is simple to make, using just one pot for the process. In the video, Francesco demonstrated how to make it.
He started by adding “a good drizzle of olive oil” to the pot followed by soffritto – a mix of celery, onions and carrot. He said: “I don’t use any vegetable stock for this one so I’m going to build those flavours using sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, parsley, and basil.”
Once the soffrito had cooked for five minutes he added the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, parsley and basil. After another minute, he added chopped fresh tomatoes and cubed potato.
“Give it a stir, a pinch of salt and if you wish, some black pepper too,” he said. “Now cover all the vegetables with water. Bring it to a boil, cover it and cook it for half an hour.” Then he recommended adding any green leafy vegetables in season such as savoy cabbage, chard or cavolo nero.
Francesco said: “Now the final touches: cabbage chickpeas, and the beans. Make sure to cover everything again with the water. Give it a final stir, cover it and cook it for five more minutes. Now, that the minestrone is ready we’re going to taste it and adjust for seasoning.”
Then he served up portions of the soup into bowls. You can top this either with grated pecorino or parmesan cheese, or with grated stale bread.
Sardinia was actually the first area in the world to be identified as a Blue Zone. According to data, around 33.6 people per 100,000 inhabitants in Sardinia reach the age of 100 or older, making it one of the regions with the highest concentration of centenarians globally.
BlueZones.com explains that the classic Sardinian diet consists of “whole-grain bread, beans, garden vegetables, fruits, and, in some parts of the island, mastic oil”. “Sardinians also traditionally eat pecorino cheese made from grass-fed sheep, whose cheese is high in omega-3 fatty acids,” it says. “Meat is largely reserved for Sundays and special occasions.”
