if you think soup season is behind us, think again...
While a warm bowl of soup is definitely a key comfort during the frigid fall and winter months, rising temps don’t mean you should forget about your favorite brothy dishes. Take this spring minestrone soup, for example. It’s packed with the freshest of seasonal produce, like leeks, garlic, green beans, spinach, and herbs. You can enjoy it either hot or cold, but a bowl of warm broth tinged with flavorful basil pesto sounds like a good bet on a cool spring evening.
⟶ the recipe
spring minestrone with pesto
ingredients
1 leek, sliced (white part only)
2 cloves garlic, minced
6-8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
2 cups short pasta (such as shells or farfalle)
1 14-ounce can of white beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium zucchini, diced
4 ounces green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 ounces spinach
½ cup frozen green peas, thawed
¼ cup basil pesto
Salt and pepper
¼ cup chopped parsley
Pecorino romano cheese for serving
Prep time
20 minutes
Cook time
30 minutes
Total time
50 minutes
4 servings
instructions
In a large Dutch oven, heat a couple tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil.
Add the leek slices, and saute for about 5 minutes, until they’re just beginning to brown. Add the garlic and saute for a couple more minutes, scraping up any brown bits with a spatula.
Add the broth and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the pasta and white beans, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes or until pasta is al dente.
Remove the bay leaf, then add the zucchini and green beans, and simmer for another 5-10 minutes until veggies are soft but still bright green.
Add the spinach, peas, and pesto, and stir until spinach has just barely wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add the parsley. Remove the soup from the heat and transfer to individual bowls.
Top with some shaved pecorino romano cheese and serve with crusty baguette slices drizzled with olive oil.
⟶ recipe notes
- You can make your own pesto if you wish, but store-bought pesto works just fine here since it’s not totally the star of the show
⟶ modifications
- Make this vegan by using vegetable broth and skipping the cheese at the end
- Make it gluten-free by either using gluten-free pasta (chickpea is great) or substituting rice or a different GF grain
⟶ make it ahead
- Unlike many soups, this one doesn’t store super well in its final form. The noodles will soak up a lot of the liquid after a while, and you’ll be left with more of a mushy pasta. One thing you can do if you’re planning to make a big batch or have some leftovers is cook the pasta separately. You can even make it ahead. Then, just stir some of the noodles into your portion when you’re ready to eat it
- The rest of the soup (minus the noodles) can be stored in a tightly sealed container or jar for up to 3 days or frozen for about a month
