Minestrone with Pesto

Nothing quite says winter than a piping hot bowl of soup.  It's right up there as one of favorite things to have during the cold months and love pretty much any flavor that it comes in.

While, here in California it may not quite be bundling up and snowing weather... it has been chillier this past week...I have needed to wear a scarf and a jacket so I decided I was justified in making my winter standby meal for dinner and settled on cooking up a batch of Minestrone with some extra delicious pesto on top to mix in!

Ingredients:

Soup
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup of diced onions
1 medium carrot cut into thin coins
1 stalk of celery cut into half coins
1 peeled russet potato cut into cubes
4 cups of hot chicken broth 
2 cups of organic canned chopped tomatoes (with juice too)
1 cup of thinly sliced cabbage
1 diced zucchini
1 1/2 cups of cannellini beans (I made mine from dried beans, but you can choose to used canned)

Pesto
1 cup of chopped basil leaves
1 medium-large garlic clove
1 tbsp. pine nuts
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan


Method:
In a large stock pot heat the 3 tbsp. of extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat.  Then stir in the onions, carrots and celery with a bit of salt and pepper.  Allow the vegetables to cook until they begin to soften.  

Once, the vegetables are softened, add the cubed potatoes to the pot for approximated 3-4 minutes.  Next, add in the hot chicken broth (when making soup it's important that the broth isn't cool so make sure to warm it up first), chopped tomatoes and a pinch more of salt and pepper.  

Allow this to simmer for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour (or until vegetables are tender). Then go ahead and add the cabbage, zucchini, and beans.  Let this simmer for a few minutes about 5 minutes, to let the flavors absorb.

While the soup is still cooking, make the pesto.  Combine the chopped basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and freshly grated parmesan into a food processor/blender.

Serve the soup with a dollop of the fresh pesto on top and an (optional) sprinkle of parmesan....Enjoy!