Vegetable minestrone with pesto

During the last couple of weeks I have been cooking and eating everything I desire, not giving calories a second thought. However, the problem with being half Italian, is that I may have the Italian mamma gene and need to be careful not to over indulge incase I end up being ’round’ like an Italian mamma. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with that and will embrace it when the time is right. However, until I can use pregnancy as a reason for the gains, I like to change my diet up to help keep the pounds off (as well as hitting the gym). This week is WINTER WARMER SOUP week. I’ll be cooking up a selection of soups to show you how sexy Italian soups can be. First up, is a Ligurian vegetable minestrone served with their infamous basil pesto.

Vegetable minestrone with pesto

Ingredients (6 people or 6 bowls)

3-4 potatoes, peeled & diced

1 courgette, sliced into rounds

125g frozen peas

125g frozen broad beans

1 leak, thinly sliced

100g Kale, shredded

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 x 400g tin cannellini beans

100g home-made basil pesto

80g Pasta (for minestrone, i.e. ditalini, orzo)

Method

• Add all the vegetables including the parsley into a big sauce pan with enough water to  cover the vegetables.
  
• Bring the pan to the boil, season with salt & pepper and then simmer for at least 30 minutes. 
• At this point add the cannellini beans. 
• Finally, when your ready to serve the soup, add the pasta into the vegetable soup until it’s dente.
• Serve with the basil pesto & Parmesan.