Veggies and Pesto Soup

Today’s recipe is a super delicious yet simple vegetable soup, that becomes amazing with the addition of pesto.
It was definitely inspired by the well known french dish Soupe au Pistou.
I love it because it’s light tasting (no creams or extra carbs in this one) and makes eating your veggies for the day a pleasure!
It’s a great choice for a meatless monday dinner or vegetarian dish (use vegetable broth instead of chicken, omit cheese for dairy free), and is definitely suitable for dinner guest.
You can use a prepared pesto in this recipe, or make your own simple version (no nuts or cheese). Both taste great.
If you are craving a good spring soup give this recipe a try.

YUM!


VEGGIES AND PESTO SOUP
*serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled, diced
1 cup diced leeks
6 cups chicken (or vegetable broth for meatless/vegetarian)
1 potato, peeled, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 2-3 fresh sprigs)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup diced green beans, blanched
1 tbsp pesto
1/2 cup Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium sized pot, heat oil over med heat.
Add onion and carrots, cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add leeks, cook 5 minutes more.
Add broth, potato, tomato, bay leaf and thyme and stir to combine; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add blanched green beans and pesto and simmer 15 more minutes.
Ladle into individual bowls, top with parmesan and enjoy!
*blanching turns blah greyish green beans a beautiful bright green that looks so good in your dishes, so I highly recommend the extra step.
It is easy to do, simply bring a small pot of water to a boil, add beans and cook 3 minutes, drain and place in a bowl of very cold water for 5 minutes, drain and use as needed or store in fridge until needed
*if you want to serve this as a main dish to make it a bit more filling, you can add 1/2 to 3/4 cups soup noodles (such as orzo, ditini, stars, mini macaroni or small shells) to the pot at the same time you are adding green beans, proceed as per recipe but stir occasionally.

*to make your own simple pesto, simply place 1/2 cup packed basil leaves, 1 clove garlic, 1/4 cup parmesan, 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper in a food processor and process until almost smooth.



taken by : http://spreadinggoodtastes.com/veggies-and-pesto-soup/