This is where you get to choose whether to be creative or just use up what you have left over. I’m a huge fan of a light broth, and this parsley pesto makes sure you’re not short of flavour.
Ingredients
- glug of rapeseed oil
- 1 white onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 carrot, diced
- ½ leek, diced
- ½ head of broccoli, broken into florets and roughly chopped
- 14 oz (400 g) tin of butter beans or whatever beans you have
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 52 fl oz 6 cups (1.5 litres) vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons yogurt, crème fraîche or sour cream
Parsley Pesto
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- large handful of finely chopped parsley
- 1 oz ¼ cup (25 g) finely grated parmesan
- big glug of extra virgin olive oil
How to Make It
- Pour the rapeseed oil into a large saucepan, add the onion, garlic, carrot, leek and broccoli and sweat over medium–low heat for a few minutes until starting to soften. Add the butter beans, bay leaf and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, pour in the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 12–15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
- For the parsley pesto, pound the garlic, pine nuts and parsley to a paste using a pestle and mortar (or whiz them in a small food processor or blender). Season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir in the parmesan and olive oil. Add a spoonful of pesto to each bowl of soup, along with a dollop of yogurt, crème fraîche or sour cream.
