Scarecrow minestrone with pesto Recipe | 4Food

Date Published:: 04/09/2007

This recipe is merely a guide – use whichever vegetables are fresh, juicy and seasonal when you decide to cook it. Hugh would always include onions, however, and he also thinks this soup is never quite as good without tomatoes.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2-3 tbsp olive oil
500g onions, peeled and finely chopped
500g-1kg ripe tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3–4 medium carrots, diced
500g squash, peeled and diced
3–4 medium courgettes, diced
a few handfuls of peas
a fistful of runner beans, roughly chopped
a fistful of chard or spinach leaves, finely shredded

For the pesto:

a good fistful of basil
1 clove of garlic, peeled
a handful of pine nuts, lightly toasted
2 tbsp olive or hempseed oil
1-2 tbsp finely grated parmesan or hard goat’s cheese (optional)

Method: How to make scarecrow minestrone with pesto

1. Make the pesto first: put the basil, garlic and pine nuts on a large board and chop them together with a heavy knife until you have a fine-grained mixture. Transfer to a bowl and add the oil, and the cheese, if you’re using it.

2. Season to taste and leave to stand for an hour or two while you prepare the veg for the soup.

3. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and sweat them gently until soft. Meanwhile, pour boiling water over the tomatoes, leave for a minute, then drain and peel off the skins. Chop them roughly and add to the onions.

4. Cook gently until thick and pulpy, then add about 500ml cold water (or light stock) and a good pinch of salt.

5. Now add the diced vegetables(make sure the vegetables are all chopped into small, evenly sized pieces) – everything except the chard or spinach leaves. Bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes. Then add the shredded chard or spinach leaves. Top up with a little more boiling water if you like.

6. Simmer for another 2–3 or minutes, stirring regularly, until all the vegetables are tender, but only just. Check and adjust the seasoning, then serve immediately, with a spoonful of pesto in each bowl.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipes Scarecrow minestrone with pesto recipe

Ingredients

For the pesto:

Method: How to make scarecrow minestrone with pesto

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