You will need:
- olive oil
- a carrot, a stick of celery and a leek or an onion chopped into little squares (if you are feeling lazy, just buy a bag of already chopped 'sofrito' at the supermarket. This will increase the cost though)
- a bay leaf
- 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock (or if you cannot be bothered, just water)
- a pinch of salt
- half a tsp of (sweet) paprika
- three handfuls of small pasta (vermicelli or small stars or snails)
You can get this done in 15-20 minutes. It makes a nice lunch almost on its own.
Cover the base of a pan with a thin layer of olive oil and heat over a medium heat hob. Add all the vegetables and the bay leaf and wait (stirring it occasionally) until they are soft and golden. This will take around 5 or 6 minutes.
Add the stock or water, the salt and the paprika.Increase the heat to high and bring it to boil.
Once it is boiling add the pasta and cook until soft following the instructions in the packet (for vermicelli for example you just need 3-4 minutes). I like the vegetables crunchy and the pasta soft, but if you prefer the pasta 'al dente' you can alter the cooking times as you wish.
As my eldest says: 'de-li-cio-so'
Remember to remove the bay leaf before pouring the soup as in Spain having a bay leaf in your bowl means you will be 'cursed' to not getting married...
I supervised the cooking but the children did it all except for choping the vegetables
