Minestrone soup with homemade pesto is a meatless meal-in-a-bowl full of yummy veggies, packed with flavor and very satisfying. A vegetarian meal that the whole family will love!
I like to make a big portion of this soup and freeze half of it - it is great to discover that you have a meal's worth of hearty Minestrone in your freezer on a night you don't want to cook!
This recipe includes Chef's tips for preparing Minestrone and also great tricks for freezing it so that it tastes just as good as when you first made it.
If you like Vegetarian Minestrone Soup you will also enjoy Soupe au Pistou. Soupe au Pistou is a hearty yet summery vegetarian bean soup packed with mixed vegetables, pasta and LOTS of basil. The perfect meal in a bowl , ideal meal prep to get you through the week.
You will certainly also love my French Vegetable Soup (Potage aux Légumes) recipe - a deliciously healthy blended vegetable soup, just like Grandma used to make. I always have a pot of it in my fridge!
Soup Sunday Challenge
After many people requested a Minestrone Soup as part of the #soupsundaychallenge, I thought it was time to elevate the Minestrone Soup recipe I had written a couple years back for week 6 of the challenge. This recipe is entirely vegetarian and could also be Vegan if you omit the parmesan in the pesto. Plus, making your own pesto is a great way to add incredible flavor and finesse to your soup.
You can still sign up for the Soup Sunday Challenge, which runs until February 27th 2022. I will send you a free Soup recipe ebook, featuring my top 10 Soup recipes when you sign up!
I will be cooking a soup recipe live on Instagram at 11am EST every Sunday morning until February 27th.
Minestrone is soup is a thick, satisfying vegetable soup that contains a variety of vegetables and pasta. The type of pasta and the vegetables that you use are up to you! Ideally, a minestrone soup's ingredients will change with the seasons - use the vegetables that are fresh and easily available to you!
Yes, but only if you don't cook the pasta in with the soup! Pasta becomes very mushy when it sits in broth for longer than the recommended cooking time. Cook the pasta on the side and mix together with the soup when you are ready to eat. Delicious!
Vegetarian Minestrone Soup Ingredients
1 yellow onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
4 Carrots, diced(about 1 cup)
1 box of mushrooms ( button or Cremini), diced (about 2 cups)
2 zucchinis, diced (about 2 cups)
4 stalks of celery, diced (about 1 cup)
2 cups of fresh green beans, chopped in small pieces with the tips removed
4 roma tomatoes, diced with the seeds removed(cherry tomatoes or hot house tomatoes also work fine, use what you have!)
2 cups of cauliflower, divided into small florets
1, 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 14-oz cans of Cannellini beans
2 cups of Ditalini Pasta (elbow pasta also works but I love the look of Ditalini!)
8 cups of vegetable stock (or water)
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
1 tsp Fleur de sel
½ tsp Ground Pepper
12 cups of water
2 tbsp olive oil
For the homemade Pesto:
The full recipe for my 5 minute simple basil pesto is found here
For the Minestrone Soup with homemade pesto I have halved the recipe as follows:
2 cups of fresh basil
3 cloves of garlic
⅓ of a cup of pine nuts
½ cup of grated parmesan
½ cup of olive oil
Equipment Needed
A big soup pot - a minimum size of 8 Qts.
A sturdy chopping board makes "la mise en place" so much easier - I use this rimmed board (the black one is back in stock!! ) with jar gaskets underneath it to secure it on the countertop.
Good quality chopping knife - we use Wustof in our house and this 8 inch chef's knife is my workhorse. It is an investment, but it is also indestructible!
These Duralex bowls are great for separating ingredients - they also make it fun for kids to cook with you too!
I have a kitchen aid immersion blender set that I use to make my pesto - I use this blender multiple times per week!
*this blog post contains affiliate links. By clicking on the links above I get a small commission if you purchase, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business.
La Mise en place
The first thing I do is chop all of my ingredients first. I have adapted the concept of “la mise en place” from my husband’s professional kitchens, it is the best way to reduce the stress of cooking, especially when you have little ones underfoot. I can chop all of the ingredients at my leisure and then I only start cooking over heat when I can just toss the ingredients in.
Instructions for Le Chef's Wife Vegetarian Minestrone
Drizzle olive oil in to your big soup pot. Heat over medium- high heat.
Add the chopped garlic and onions and stir until they become translucent.
Stir in the celery and the carrots until they start to sweat and the flavors begin to stick to the bottom of the pot. Pour in 4 cups of water to deglaze the pan. This is a Chef's trick for adding flavor to the soup!
Now we can add in the zucchinis, cauliflower, fresh tomatoes and the canned diced tomatoes as well as the salt, pepper and herbes de provence.
Bring soup up to a boil and then turn the heat down to medium.
Allow the soup to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the remaining 4 cups of water a little at a time. Check the liquid level in the soup. You will want the ingredients to be generously covered with broth, but not too much. Add more water if needed.
I like to add in the mushrooms, cannellini beans and green beans last so that they do not get mushy. Throw them all into the pot and then set the timer for another 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook your Ditalini pasta according to package instructions in a separate pot.
Chef's Tip** Pasta absorbs an incredible amount of liquid - if you cook the pasta in with the soup it will become mushy quickly and does not hold up well in the fridge or freezer. I recommend to always cook your pasta on the side and then simply spoon in a half cup of cooked pasta into the bottom of each bowl and pour the soup on top.
If you have a rind of parmesan in your fridge, add that in the pot while it is simmering, it will give off a rich flavor.
Once the 30 minutes are up, check that the green beans are cooked the way you like them and then it is ready to serve.
How to Make the homemade Pesto
Mix the pesto ingredients (garlic, pine nuts, parmesan, basil and olive oil) together in a food processor until finely chopped for about a minute. Add more olive oil if it is too thick.
How to serve Minestrone soup with pesto
Into each bowl scoop a portion of the cooked pasta (I like to serve about a half cup per person).
Laddle a generous amount of the Minestrone soup on top.
Top with a tablespoon of the fresh homemade pesto.
I also love to grate aged parmesan over my soup, it feels as satisfying as if you are eating a big bowl of pasta but it is really just stock full of veggies!!
Served with a fresh baked baguette, it is the ultimate treat.
Au plaisir,
Le Chef's Wife
Vegetarian Minestrone soup with homemade Pesto
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 6-8 portions 1x
- Category: soup
- Method: soup
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Minestrone soup with homemade pesto is a meatless meal-in-a-bowl full of yummy veggies, packed with flavor and very satisfying. A vegetarian meal that the whole family will love!
Ingredients
1 yellow onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
4 Carrots, diced(about 1 cup)
1 box of mushrooms ( button or Cremini), diced (about 2 cups)
2 zucchinis, diced (about 2 cups)
4 stalks of celery, diced (about 1 cup)
2 cups of fresh green beans, chopped in small pieces with the tips removed
4 roma tomatoes, diced with the seeds removed(cherry tomatoes or hot house tomatoes also work fine, use what you have!)
2 cups of cauliflower, divided into small florets
1, 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 14-oz cans of Cannellini beans
2 cups of Ditalini Pasta (elbow pasta also works but I love the look of Ditalini!)
8 cups of vegetable stock (or water)
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
1 tsp Fleur de sel
½ tsp Ground Pepper
12 cups of water
2 tbsp olive oil
For the homemade Pesto:
The full recipe for my 5 minute simple basil pesto is found here
For the Minestrone Soup with homemade pesto I have halved the recipe as follows:
2 cups of fresh basil
3 cloves of garlic
⅓ of a cup of pine nuts
½ cup of grated parmesan
½ cup of olive oil
Instructions
Drizzle olive oil in to your big soup pot. Heat over medium- high heat.
Add the chopped garlic and onions and stir until they become translucent.
Stir in the celery and the carrots until they start to sweat and the flavors begin to stick to the bottom of the pot. Pour in 4 cups of water to deglaze the pan. This is Le Chef's trick for adding flavor to the soup.
Now we can add in the zucchinis, cauliflower, fresh tomatoes and the canned diced tomatoes as well as the salt, pepper and herbes de provence.
Bring soup up to a boil and then turn the heat down to medium.
Add the remaining 4 cups of water . Check the liquid level in the soup. You will want the ingredients to be generously covered with broth, but not too much. Add more water if needed.
Allow the soup to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
I like to add in the mushrooms, cannellini beans and green beans last so that they do not get mushy. Set the timer for another 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook your ditalini pasta according to package instructions in a separate pot.
Chef's Tip** Past absorbs an incredible amount of liquid - if you cook the pasta in with the soup it will become mushy quickly and does not store well. I recommend to always cook your pasta on the side and then simply spoon in a half cup of cooked pasta into the bottom of each bowl and pour the soup on top.
If you have a rind of parmesan in your fridge, add that in the pot while it is simmering, it will give off a rich flavor.
Once the 30 minutes are up, check that the green beans are cooked the way you like them and then you are ready to serve.
Mix the pesto ingredients (garlic, pine nuts, parmesan, basil and olive oil) together in a food processor until finely chopped. Add more olive oil if needed.
Spoon onto the top of each bowl of Minestrone soup.
I also love to grate aged parmesan over my soup, it feels as satisfying as if you are eating a big bowl of pasta but it is really just stock full of veggies!! Served with a fresh baked baguette, it is the ultimate treat.
Notes
La Mise en Place
The first thing I do is chop all of my ingredients first. I have adapted the concept of “la mise en place” from my husband’s professional kitchens, it is the best way to reduce the stress out of cooking, especially when you have little ones underfoot. I can chop all of the ingredients at my leisure and then I only start cooking over heat when I can just toss the ingredients in.
Freezer Friendly
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