A vegetarian choice: Italian Vegetable Bean Soup with Pesto

January 1, 2015

GTLF, aka Great Taste Low Fat, has a wonderful cookbook called Hearty Soups and Stews.  In my culture, soup is an important part of daily life, celebration and even death.  For this reason, soup is soul food for me and my family. Hearty Soups and Stews is a fascinating book because it offers 81 different recipes which offers a great amount of variety.  I have learned that variety is fun and exciting and I've been enjoying adding them to my daily diet. I find myself craving soups for lunch and on cold days.  

Here is a delicious and filling one to try.  I made this on December 11, 2013.

Italian Vegetable Bean Soup with Pesto

Hearty Soups and Stews P 83

(Serves 4; working time 25 min.; total time 40 minutes)

4 tsp olive oil

1 red onion coarsely chopped

3 carrots, thinkly sliced

13 3/4 oz. can reduced sodium chicken broth defatted

1 C dry white wine

3/4 tsp. dried rosemary

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 pound small red potatoes quartered

1 C packed fresh basil leaves

1/4 C grated Parmesan Cheese

2 Cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 pound Italian green beans, fresh or thawed frozen, cut into 1 in pieces

1/2 C small pasta shapes, such as orzo

1 C frozen peas

19 oz. can white kidney beans (cannellini) rinsed and drained 

1/4 tsp. salt

1. In a nonstick Dutch oven or large saucepan, heat 2 tsp of the oil until hot but not smoking over medium heat.  Add the onion and carrots and cook until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the broth, 1 1/2 C of water, the wine, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and potatoes.  Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are firm tender, about 8 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a food processor or blender, combine the basil, Parmesan, garlic, remaining 2 tsp. oil, and 2 tablespoons of water.  Process to a smooth puree.  Set the pesto aside.

3. Add the green beans and pasta to the soup and cook until the pasta and green beans are just tender, about 8 minutes.  Stir in the peas, white kidney beans, and salt and simmer until the peas and white kidney beans are heated through, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the pesto.  Divide among 4 bowls and serve.

Nutritional Information: 8 g fat, 444 calories, 1.7g saturated fat, 67 g carbohydrate, 20g protein, 4mg cholesterol, 741mg sodium.


Tips:

I've noticed that it might take a little time, but always make the soups at the temperatures recommended.  I've tried speeding things up a bit and the soups come out dry.  If you do everything at medium heat, the soups will have the proper amounts of broth.

I'm militant about using a timer.  I've found that I've always over cooked meats and vegetables. Using the timer insures the integrity of textures represented in each recipe.

I found that those little wine bottles from Walmart have all the wine flavors in 1 Cup sizes.  I don't drink wine so this helps me avoid wasting perfectly good wine.  I keep the bottles with my spices.

I've learned that frozen vegetables work pretty good next to fresh ones.  I always keep frozen peas, pearl onions, lima beans and corn in the freezer.  Fresh is of course ideal.  I don't like canned for this type of cooking.

I haven't found the 19 oz. cans so I just use the standard ones which are about 15 oz.  If any of you find cans in that size let me know where.