Minestrone Style Tomato and Lentil Soup

After another chilly journey home from work, what could be better than sitting down to a bowl of hearty nutrient packed soup guaranteed to keep hunger at bay for hours to come?

Ingredients

1/2 a yellow onion
1/2 a large or 1 small  courgette/ zucchini
2 cloves garlic (I love using black garlic to give an almost sweet, earthy flavour)
1 can puy lentils
1 cup small shaped pasta per person- I love using Banza pasta which is made from chickpea flour
1 cup spinach
a handfull of fresh basil leaves
1/2 a green bell pepper
a handfull of green beans
1/2 cup tomato based pasta sauce, or pasatta
salt, pepper, and spices to taste- I love using a little lemon pepper, some garlic salt, and ground dried red pepper, or smoked paprika
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup veggie broth
1 cup water (for 2 people, add 1/2 cup per person to ensure the pasta cooks through)

Method

Roughly chop the onion, green bell pepper, and garlic and add to a saucepan with the olive oil on medium heat, cover and stir intermittently.
Remove the ends from the green beans and chop into quarters, slice the courgette/ zucchini into quarters length-ways and then slice widthways to create chunks about 1cm square. Add these to the saucepan once the onion and pepper have begun to soften, again cover and stir intermittently.
Drain the lentils, rinse, then add to the saucepan along with a 1/2 the tomato sauce and 1/2 the water. Continue to stir intermittently and leave covered for about 5 minutes until the beans begin to soften.
Add the pasta, the rest of the water and the stock. Stir and leave covered for another 5 minutes.
Add the salt, pepper, and spices and the rest of the tomato sauce then tear the spinach and basil leaves into the mixture,  stir until cooked through.
Serve, and enjoy!