Ingredients:
For soup:
- Vegetables – Onions, potatoes, celery, carrots, broccoli and zucchini – 1 cup each, cut in small / medium size cubes
- Tomato – 1 large, chopped
- Olive oil – 1 Tbs
- Vegetable broth – 3 cups
- Beans, Cannellini (creamy white Italian beans), cooked, 1 cup
- Oregano – ½ Tsp
- Basil – ½ Tsp
- Thyme – ¼ Tsp
- Black pepper – ¼ Tsp
- Salt to taste
For pesto:
- Basil – Sweet (Italian), 1 cup
- Garlic – 2 large cloves
- Olive oil – 2 Tbs
- Pine nuts – 2 Tbs
- Cheese – Parmesan, grated, 2 Tbs
- Salt to taste
For crotons:
- Any hearty bread (I used whole grain loaf from La Brea Bakery, available at Costco in their bakery section)
- Olive oil – 1 Tbs
- Salt to taste
Method:
Soup
- Heat the oil in a deep pan
- Add vegetables (not tomatoes) and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly
- Add vegetable broth, cooked beans and spices (oregano, basil, thyme, pepper) and cook for 20-25 minutes, till all the vegetables are cooked tender
- Add tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes
- Add salt, based on the salt-level in the broth
- While serving hot, stir in ½ Tsp of pesto in the soup and top it with crotons
Pesto
Mix all the ingredients in a mixer into a fine paste
Crotons
- Cut the bread into ¾ inch cubes
- Mix the bread with oil and salt
- Bake the bread pieces in an oven at about 350 F for 15 minutes, till it becomes lightly brown
Serves: 4
Remarks:
This hearty soup can have several variations and this one is an attempt to recreate what’s served at Pasta Pomodoro restaurants. Along with whole wheat crotons, it makes a one-dish-meal!
Note that the pesto is an absolutely critical element of this recipe!!
You must be logged in to post a comment.