Pesto Soup
A great, healthy vegetable soup with a rich flavor. Like a minestrone, but less tomatoey. Lots of fiber and nutrients. Pairs nicely with family and bread.
Soupe au Pistou (Pesto Soup)
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
4 zucchini, small diced
2 small/medium or 1 large onion, small diced
4 garlic cloves, minced (or you can use store bought minced garlic - I do!)
1 small fennel bulb
4 carrots, small diced
2.5 cups, small diced yukon gold potatoes*
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 14 oz can white beans or kidney beans, drained and rinsed (or about ¼ lb of dried, cooked)
1 cup orzo
For the pistou
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (nooch)
1 tsp salt
4 garlic cloves smashed
4 cup basil leaves torn into small pieces
¼ cup EVOO
¼ cup minced tomatoes
Directions
Wash and small dice (¼ in cubes) the zucchini, onion, potatoes and carrots.
Core and roughly chop fennel - here’s a video on preparing fennel because I didn’t know how until this recipe.
In a large soup pot, dutch oven, or something like it, heat 1-2 tbsp (glugs) of olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the onions, garlic, potatoes, and fennel and cook for 10 minutes or so until the onion and fennel are soft. Stand guard here and stir often so the garlic doesn’t burn. If they start to stick, splash a bit of water in to help loosen them.
Add 8-12 cups (2-3 quarts) of water, depending on how brothy you like your soup. I did ultimately add 12 cups. Bring that to a boil and once it does, lower the heat and simmer 30 minutes.
After the first simmer, smash some of the potatoes already in the broth with a fork or a potato masher (this is a great way to add thickness without using cornstarch). Add in the green beans and zucchini to the pot. Bring back to a boil, then lower heat and simmer 20 more minutes.
Make the pistou - add the garlic, salt, nooch and sunflower seeds and blitz in a food processor until you get a crumbly texture. Pulse in the basil until and add in olive oil to combine - about ¼ cup**
Add diced tomatoes and white beans. Simmer 10-20 more minutes.
Meanwhile, toast the orzo in a small pot with a little oil or vegan butter - it will start to look golden after just a few minutes. Remove from heat and add to the soup pot. Turn off the heat and let it stand until orzo is cooked.
Season with about 2-3 tsp of salt and pepper to taste.
Mix a little broth into the pistou and then add to the pot. Stir to combine. Enjoy!
Notes
* The baby potatoes here just are easier for quick cooking. Russets would work just fine. They may need a little longer to cook
** This order is important because if you whiz olive oil at too high a speed, it can get bitter
Soup is one of my go-tos when I’ve got a bunch of veggies that I’ve got to cook before they go bad. It’s also one of the ways I can sneak them into my child. Zucchini, onion, potatoes and carrots are staples at my house so I always have them, but on this occasion the fennel was the big weirdo staring at me. I had randomly grabbed it because they had it in the organic section at the store and it looked like a challenge! I love to get my basil at Trader Joe’s because you can get a lot for cheap - granted that’s just in California. If you’re in a part of the country where it is more costly, or it’s the winter, you can play around with just using a small amount of basil and supplementing with Italian parsley. It will change the flavor a bit, but definitely not for the worse! It still has a fresh herbaceous flavor and won’t break the bank.
It all came together super easily, but mostly because I slayed the mise en place. Check out my post on that here.
To make gluten-free: choose a small gluten-free pasta noodle and replace the orzo
To make paleo: ditch the pasta and potatoes; use sweet potatoes or cauliflower instead and thicken with arrowroot slurry if desired.
