Vegan Minestrone with Pistou

Minestrone is a thick vegetable soup of Italian origin, usually with beans and pasta. My version is vegetable dense and omits the pasta and the parmesan rind traditionally used to add umami. Instead, I add fresh basil pistou (like pesto but thinner and without cheese) to bump up the flavor.

I love this recipe because it’s versatile. Many different vegetables will work in this dish so I always check my fridge to see what veggies I can add to the minestrone. In this version I added some potato so that I wouldn’t miss the pasta. And if you use high quality organic veggies, the taste of this soup will be so outstanding you’ll never miss the parmesan.

Because basil is delicate you don’t want to boil it in the soup. It’s better to add it in as a garnish when serving. That will also keep the soup from turning a murky color. The pistou can be used on all sorts of other foods too — from eggs to pasta to sandwiches and chicken.

I love to make a pot of this soup and have a bowl every day when the weather gets cold. OK, I live in Los Angeles and cold weather is when it gets below 60 F. But I also noticed that I get colder than normal now that my white blood cell count is low from months of chemo treatments, so I appreciate a steaming hot bowl of soup, fragrant with the fresh basil pistou floating on top. This soup freezes well too.

Click here for recipe.