Green Minestrone Soup

Loaded with  Greens: Spinach, Kale, Chard, Basil

Wanted a veggie soup to have on hand as a healthy alternative and this fit the bill.  We had it for dinner the first night, and the next day, too, because we liked it so much, then froze the remaining portions.

If you don't like garlic, skip the pesto or just add the fresh basil and pine nuts as a garnish with cheese.

---Barbara

Green Minestrone Soup

(adapted from David Kinch's At Home in the Kitchen)

Serves 8-12 depending on portion size

12  cups chicken broth

1/4 c. olive oil

1 9-ounce bag pre-washed spinach (or 1 bunch)

1 10-ounce bag pre-washed, chopped Tuscan kale (or 1 bunch)

1 bunch Swiss chard, thick stems removed, leaves chopped 

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly torn

2-3 small zucchini, quartered length-wise, and chopped

2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cut into large dice (or 16 petite, quartered)

2 round Sicilian eggplants (or 1 globe), peeled, sliced and chopped into large dice

1 baseball-sized turnip, peeled, sliced and chopped into large dice

2 cups dried pasta, short fat tubes or macaroni

1 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo), drained well

salt and pepper to taste

pesto -- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, 1/3 cup pine nuts, 1 -2 garlic cloves, extra virgin olive oil about 1/3 cup

shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Prep all of the vegetables.

In a very large stockpot, bring the stock and olive oil to a boil.  

Add the kale,  the eggplant, the spinach, the zucchini, the chard,  the turnip, then the potatoes, then the basil.  It doesn't look like it will all fit but it does.  

Then mix it all together, and reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 1 hour.    

Add the pasta along with a teaspoon of salt (but taste if first, you might not need it) and cook for 20 minutes.  

The pasta will be overcooked on purpose to thicken the soup.  

To make the pesto --- whiz the pine nuts, garlic, basil in a small processor while adding a stream of extra virgin olive oil to make a pesto.  To make it authentic, add grated cheese too, but I prefer to serve the cheese separately.  So, this might be technically a pistou versus a pesto.  Or maybe neither, but it works.

Then, add the chickpeas, and cook for 5 more minutes.

Check the seasoning, add salt and pepper as needed.

Ladle into deep bowls, add a tablespoon of pesto, and top  with plenty of cheese.

Serve with a nice crusty bread...or toasted slices of multigrain baguette...for dipping.

B