VCE: A Summer Bean And Vegetable Soup With Pesto

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The Pesto was previously posted. Kathleen

 

* Exported from MasterCook *

 

A Summer Bean And Vegetable Soup With Pesto

 

Recipe By : Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison, page 228

Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00

Categories : Beans And Legumes Potatoes

Soups And Stews Vegetables

 

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

-------- ------------ --------------------------------

1 cup cannellini or other white beans

soaked for 4 hours

***.AROMATICS***

2 bay leaves

8 parsley sprigs

4 sprigs thyme

***REMAINING INGREDIENTS***

5 large garlic cloves -- 2 sliced, 3 minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly milled pepper

3 small leeks -- chopped

white parts plus an inch of the greens

2 pinches saffron threads

3 carrots -- peeled and diced

3 waxy yellow boiling potatoes -- chopped

2 turnips -- peeled and chopped

3 zucchini

sliced into 1/2-inch rounds or chunks

12 ounces green beans -- tipped and tailed

and cut into 1-inch lengths

2 large ripe tomatoes -- peeled

seeded and diced

Pesto or Basil Purée

(see separate recipes)

 

SERVES 8 TO 10

 

On the first day this Nicoise minestrone is light and brothy, but a day

later it's thick and substantial. If you can find fresh shelling beans,

use two or three times as many in place of the dried since they don't swell.

 

Rinse the beans put them in a pot with 3 quarts water, and boil hard for 10

minutes. Add the aromatics, sliced garlic and 1 teaspoon of the

oil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes. Add 2

teaspoons salt and cook until the beans are tender, 15 to 30 minutes

more. Strain the broth, measure, and add water to make 10 cups.

 

Warm the remaining oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the leeks and

saffron threads and cook until the leeks look glossy and translucent and

the saffron begins to release its aroma, about 10 minutes. Add the

vegetables and minced garlic. Cook just to soften the vegetables, 4 to 5

minutes, then add the reserved bean broth and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a

boil, lower the heat, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 30

minutes. Add the beans and taste for salt and season with pepper. Ladle

the soup into bowls and stir a spoonful of pesto into each serving.

 

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