Soup au pistou with walnut pesto : A Bowl of Vegetarian deliciousness !

This is a classic Provençal vegetable soup, with a rich, earthy walnut pesto twist. Perfect for warming up these cooler Autumnal nights ...

Ingredients:

Serves Six

For the soup
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1/2 fennel bulb, finely chopped
1x 31g pack basil stalks, finely chopped (reserve leaves for pesto)
3 garlic whole cloves
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
200g (7oz) spinach, chopped
1 x 400g tin cannellini beans, washed and drained
1 1/4l (2 pints) good quality vegetable stock

For the walnut pesto
50g (2oz) walnuts, chopped
large bunch basil leaves reserved from soup
40g Parmesan
2 garlic cloves, crushed
125ml (4fl oz.) mild olive oil
1 tsp sea salt

Method:
1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the onion, carrot, celery and fennel. Cook for 5-6 minutes over a low heat until starting to soften. Add the garlic and basil stalks and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, spinach, cannellini beans and when the spinach has wilted, season with salt and pepper and add the stock. Mix well and bring to a simmer, cook for 10 minutes.

2. While the soup is cooking, prepare the pesto. Put the walnuts, basil, Parmesan and garlic into a food processor and whizz for 10 seconds or until nearly smooth. Add the salt and whizz again, gradually drizzling in the oil until it is all combined. Season to taste.

3. Once the soup is done, ladle into 6 bowls and drizzle the pesto on top of each one.

Per serving:

Carbohydrate 2.9g Protein 10.1g Fibre 1.2g Fat 14.2g

From an original idea here

Recipes are to be shared, enjoyed, sometimes amended to suit your particular likes and needs and you will find a variety of recipe ideas within this blog. Not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan