Jamie Oliver's Minestrone Soup Recipe

P7 pupils make great minestrone soup! How many of you have tried it out at home? Ms Christie used this recipe for the workshop she led:

http://www.thegoodblog.com.au/recipe/jamie-olivers-minestrone-soup/

Ingredients

• 2 rashers of bacon
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 red onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 courgette
• 1 small leek
• 1 large potato
• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas
• a large handful curly kale
• olive oil
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 2 x 400g tins good-quality chopped tomatoes
• 1 litre vegetable stock, preferably organic
• 2 handfuls of mixed small pasta shapes

Optional:

• A bunch of fresh basil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Parmesan cheese, to serve

Equipment

• Large pan with lid
• Large knife
• Small knife
• Chopping board
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring jug
• Scales
• Large spoon

Method

1. Finely slice the bacon. Peel and finely chop the garlic and onion. Trim and chop the carrots, celery and courgette. Cut the ends off the leeks, quarter them lengthways, wash them under running water and cut them into 1cm slices.
2. Scrub and dice up the potato. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Remove the woody stalks from the kale and roughly chop the leaves.
3. Heat a large pan over a medium heat and add a lug of olive oil. Throw in the bacon and fry it gently until it starts to turn brown and smell fantastic. Add the garlic, onion, carrots, celery, courgette, leek, oregano and bay leaf and cook slowly for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the vegetables have softened.
4. Add the tomatoes, potato, chickpeas and vegetable stock, then cover with a lid and bring everything slowly to the boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes, then check (with the tip of a knife) that the potato is soft and cooked through.
5. After that, add the kale and pasta, and cook for 10 more minutes, until the pasta is cooked. If the soup is too thick for you after cooking the pasta, thin it with a little more stock or water.
6. The basil is optional but I think it is a nice little addition. If you decide to use it, stir some chopped leaves into the soup. Finish by seasoning with a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and pass the Parmesan around the table for people to grate over their soup.

More P7 Conference Pics

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Congratulations, Shakira, on achieving your Level Two Skating award!

P7C Water of Leith

Primary 7C had a great trip to the Water of Leith visitor centre, learning lots more about rivers in general and the Water if Leith in particular. We began in the centre learning all about the course of the river which begins at its source (a spring) in the Pentland Hills and then goes through many of Edinburgh's villages before emptying into the Firth of Forth at the Port of Leith. After that the children impressed Ruth with their knowledge of the water cycle.

Next we were off on an activity walk to learn more about the river. We learnt about things like: river features such as tributaries and meanders; river creatures such as otters and why they are found in increasing numbers; and why the water is brown.

Activities included: measuring the depth of the river, finding the speed the river was flowing and river dipping. During our river dipping creature we found a number of creatures such as mayfly larvae, small fish, water beetles and blood worms. 

A highlight of the trip for me was spotting a heron peacefully surveying the water from a stone.

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Inspired by Ms Gallagher's encouragement to 'Be All You Can Be' Primary 7 have started their first workshops of the day...

Digital Learners

  Six Primary 7 pupils were invited to present at an Apple in education conference at the George Hotel 

today.  

The organisers had asked them along to work collaboratively to create a presentation 

on what it means to be a digital learner.  The pupils did a fantastic job, creating a multimedia 

presentation giving examples of different ways they use their iPads to learn and of projects 

they have enjoyed taking part in.  

The girls presented on how they use iPads to help them with editing and publishing writing; 

with skills in subject areas e.g. spelling and project and with

using creative apps to make animations, movies etc that explain their thinking or findings.  

The learners introduced themselves using an app which allows them to create an avatar presenter.

The boys talked about favourite apps and projects such as Keynote used to present findings on 

research into robots; Pic Collage to show findings about features of the musical genre, 'The Blues' 

and using Dragon Dictation to assist with story writing, spelling and editing.

The delegates were amazed at the knowledge and confidence of the children.

P7B at Water of Leith

What a fantastic trip!

Our instructor, Ruth, began by telling us about the Water of Leith. After that we completed an activity about the water cycle before stopping for a break.

After break Ruth led us outdoors to investigate part of the river. We used an orange to measure the speed of the water and Brad demonstrated fantastic fishing skill by catching every orange in his fishing net!

Further upstream we went river dipping and collected several creatures to take back to the centre.

In the afternoon we looked at the creatures under the microscope and explored the exhibits in the visitor centre.

Super manners and behaviour from everyone helped to make this a wonderful trip.