Simon and David served up a tasty Mediterranean minestrone soup with lard, beans and potatoes on The Hairy Bikers’ Mediterranean Adventure.

The ingredients are: 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion, finely chopped, 1 carrot, finely chopped, 1 celery, finely chopped, 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, 2 garlic, finely chopped, 150g fregola, 250g cooked borlotti beans, 800ml water, vegetable stock or chicken stock, 2 bay leaves, 1 sprig thyme, 1 sprig rosemary, 1 piece parmesan rind (optional), 300g broad beans, podded, 2 tomatoes, skined and roughly chopped, ½ head small green cabbage, 150g green beans, trimmed and halved, 2 courgettes, thinly sliced into rounds, 100g peas, squeeze lemon juice (optional), salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To serve: small bunch basil, few sprigs parsley, 50ml olive oil and 25g parmesan (or similar vegetarian hard cheese), grated.

See more recipes from the bikers in their new book titled: The Hairy Bikers’ Mediterranean Adventure: 150 easy and tasty recipes to cook at home, available from Amazon now.