Spring Minestrone Soup

Spring Minestrone Soup Recipe

 

Yes,  it's spring but do you still want soup? I know I do and this recipe is perfect! Loaded with spring veggies and a special surprise- pesto! So good and nourishing. I could exist on bowls of this soup and nothing else for days!

This recipe is from simplyrecipes.com.  I omitted the chicken stock in their original recipe. Believe me, vegetarian or not, you will enjoy this soup just as much if you use the vegetable stock.

You can either make fresh pesto for this recipe, or you can just buy some high-quality pesto in the market.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 6 green onions
• 2 green garlic stalks, or 2 large garlic cloves
• 1 pound baby potatoes, or Yukon gold potatoes cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1 quart vegetable stock
• Salt
• 1/2 pound artichoke hearts (fresh or frozen), chopped roughly
• 1 15-ounce can of chickpeas
• 1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 cups greens (dandelion, chard, spinach, kale, arugula, etc), sliced into thin ribbons
• Up to 1/4 cup pesto
• Grated parmesan or pecorino cheese (or vegan alternative) for garnish

Method

1 Chop the green onions and green garlic and separate the white and light green parts from the green tops. If you are using regular garlic cloves, put them with the white parts of the green onions. Slice the potatoes and artichoke hearts into chunks you would want to eat with a spoon.

2 In a large pot set over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil for 1 minute. Add the white parts of the green onions as well as the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the potatoes, stir to combine and cook 1 minute.
3 Add the diced tomatoes with their liquid and the quart of vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer, add salt to taste, then cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

4 Add the artichoke hearts and cook another 5 minutes, then add the chickpeas and green peas and cook another 5 minutes. Remove the cover from the soup and add the asparagus. Cook 2 minutes. Add the greens and the green parts from the green onions and green garlic, if using. Stir well to combine and cook 1 minute.
5 Turn off the heat and stir in the pesto. Serve topped with grated cheese.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

Cynfully Good......