Organic Recipe Friday: Summer Minestrone

Summer Comfort Soup

In late summer, I tend to get a bit anxious when the weather starts shifting. I enjoy these amazing mid-70s days but I’m already thinking ahead to cooler days and the coming of winter.

I love summer and can never eat enough salads on shade-covered benches, so at a difficult time of transition like this, I seek comfort food. When I think comfort food, I think soup. And when I looked at the green beans, tomatoes, potatoes and basil I had gotten from my CSA, I thought: minestrone! So I chopped, pureed and found comfort in a bowl.

Summer Minestrone With Pesto

Serves 6

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 or 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 3 cups water
• 3 small potatoes, scrubbed and cubed (use a variety if you can)
• 1/4 cup orzo or 1/3 cup other small pasta
• Parmesan rind
• Rosemary sprig
• 1 small zucchini, cubed
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed
• 1 cup green beans, cut into one-inch pieces and steamed or parboiled
• Black pepper

Pesto

• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 1 small-medium tomato, seeded and chopped
• 2 cups packed basil
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Saute onions and carrots until they start to soften and onion turns translucent. Add garlic, saute for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes, saute for a couple of minutes. When they start to cook down, add water, potatoes, pasta, Parmesan rind, rosemary sprig, zucchini and bell pepper. Bring to low simmer, cover and cook for 30 to 40 minutes. When potatoes are cooked through, add garbanzo beans and green beans. Cook for five to ten minutes. Add black pepper.

While soup is simmering, chop garlic in food processor. Add pine nuts and blend. Add tomato, basil and olive oil and puree until smooth. Add Parmesan.

To serve, put generous tablespoon of pesto on top of each bowl of soup. Can be served hot or room temperature.

Photo Credit: Flickr User (and author) bornOKthefirsttime

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