Southern Italian Soup and a memorable birthday

When I was a little girl March was the favourite time of the year for me as mine and my sister's birthday fall in this month.As time flew priorities shifted from myself to hubby and now the children and strangely the favourite months have also changed. I still remember those years, the night before my birthday I would have butterflies in my stomach and usually the earliest one to wake up that day, a feeling of insane anticipation.When did that feeling disappear? It's not that I don't enjoy my birthday anymore but I guess, I am not overwhelmed by an uncontainable excitement anymore. Since  my 30th birthday I have started dreading  March as I feel that with each passing year I am losing those golden years of my life. Insecurities!! I constantly keep on chiding myself  to shed these insecurities and cherish old moments and look forward for some new experiences and anticipation in life.

This year was really special and memorable as I had all my near and dear ones celebrating my birthday as  I completed one more year in the span of life, a new milestone towards eternity. My mom, dad, hubby, my children, my sis in-law, my sister and her husband with gifts, surprises, cakes, shopping, treat...my god!....I felt like a little girl again after all those years. Thank you everybody, love you all!!

I am posting one of my favourite,hassle free soups, a Sanjeev Kapoor creation. The soup is full of veggies, screams health, a stomach filler and a keeper for sure. The fresh basil and the celery stalks impart a herby aroma to the soup. This soup has been made so many times as dinner at my place that the recipe is known by heart now. I have tweaked it many a times by adding mushrooms and boiled chicken or with chopped chicken loaf  but the recipe posted here is a pure veg one.

You need:

Carrot  - 1 medium chopped finely

Potatoes - 2 medium diced finely

Cabbage - 1/4 small sized ,cut into small dices

Tomatoes - 2 medium sized

Onion   - 1 medium chopped finely

Garlic   - 4 cloves chopped fine

Celery  - 1 inch stalk chopped fine

Fresh Basil - 6-8 leaves chopped(reserve some for garnish)

Olive oil  - 1 tsp 

Macaroni - 1/4 cup

Veg stock or water - 4 cups (can prepare veg stock with Maggi or knorr cubes)

Salt and pepper to taste, preferably white pepper pwdr

Method:

1. Blanch the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes, peel deseed and puree them.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan,add onion and garlic and saute till translucent.
3. Add celery, carrot and potato pieces. Stir continuously and cook for five minutes.
4. Add cabbage, tomatoes and cook stirring continuously.
5. Add salt, pepper, basil and macaroni, stir and add 4 cups of vegetable stock or water and bring it to a boil.
6. Lower the heat and simmer till the vegetables are cooked and the soup has thickened.
7. Garnish with fresh basil and serve hot with some dinner rolls.

You can put dry basil if fresh basil is not available. Enjoy!