When we’re talking about how to make Minestrone, the great delight is that there is absolutely no definitive recipe. It’s one of the very few Italian dishes that’s genuinely national, but recipes vary from region-to-region; town-to-town; and family-to-family.

Pumpkin ? Winter Squash ? To be honest, I’ve never been too sure of the difference, but I love them both, especially cut into chunks and roasted – a perfect accompaniment to roast chicken – but even better as the basis of this delicious soup !

Tuscan Bean Soup is one of these great Italian dishes which has no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ recipe. The two staple ingredients are tomatoes and Cannellini beans – but aside from those, you can pretty much ring the changes to suite your taste.

Though at first sight this exceptionally easy recipe might seem Italian, it’s perhaps best described as “Mediterranean Fusion’, because there’s one key, must-have, non-Italian ingredient without which the soup doesn’t exactly fail – but just doesn’t taste the same.

And what’s that magic ingredient ?