Hearty Vegetable Pesto Soup
Fragrant basil pesto adds a taste of summer to this healthier version of a classic French vegetable pesto soup. Aromatic vegetables add flavour and plenty of vitamins while keeping the fat in check. What a wonderful way to eat your vegetables!
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 yellow zucchini, or 3 baby squash, about 150 g in total, sliced
1 green zucchini, sliced
1 3⁄4 cups reduced-salt chicken stock
1 3⁄4 cups reduced-salt vegetable stock
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons prepared basil pesto
- Peel, seed and chop the Italian tomatoes.
- Grease a large saucepan with nonstick cooking spray and set over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, carrot, celery and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, yellow zucchini or squash, and the green zucchini. Sauté the vegetables until they are soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock and vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the flavours have blended, about 20 minutes.
- Place the basil and pesto in a food processor and pulse until the basil is chopped. Process until the pesto is thick and creamy.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, top with the pesto and serve.
preparation time 25 mins
cooking time 35 mins
serves 4
Hearty vegetable pesto soup variations: For vegetarian vegetable soup, substitute another 1 3/4 cups vegetable stock for the chicken stock. You can also vary the vegetables. Always start with sautéed onion, carrot, celery and garlic. In spring, add a handful of fresh green peas during the last 10 minutes. During summer, team the tomatoes with corn and green beans.
PER SERVING
114 calories
6 g protein
6 g total fat
1 g saturated fat
3 mg cholesterol
10 g total carbohydrate
9 g sugars
4 g fibre
891 mg sodium
