Green Minestrone with Pesto

Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 sage leaves
• 1 stalk leek
• 3 parsnips (250 g)
• 2 stalks celery
• 150 g kale
• 150 g green beans (frozen)
• 2 Zucchini
• 400 g cannellini beans (canned; drained weight)
• 120 ml olive oil
• 1.5 l vegetable broth
• 10 g basil (2 handfuls)
• 30 g Parmesan (block; 30% fat in whole milk)
• 3 tbsp pine nuts (45 g)
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions

1. 1.

   Peel and finely dice two cloves of garlic for the minestrone. Wash, dry, and finely chop sage leaves. Clean, wash, and finely slice the leek. Peel, wash, and cube the parsnips. Trim, wash, and thinly slice the celery. Remove thick stems from kale, wash, dry, and chop into small pieces. Thaw green beans. Clean, wash, halve zucchini lengthwise, and cut into slices. Rinse cannellini beans and drain.

2. 2.

   Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pot. Sauté garlic with sage and leek for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add parsnips, celery, and kale; sauté for another 3 minutes. Pour in vegetable broth and let simmer gently for 15 minutes.

3. 3.

   Meanwhile, prepare the pesto: wash, dry, and chop basil. Peel and finely dice the remaining clove of garlic. Grate Parmesan. Toast pine nuts in a hot pan without oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Combine basil, garlic, Parmesan, and pine nuts in a blender; season with salt and pepper, then blend with the remaining olive oil to make pesto.

4. 4.

   Add green beans, zucchini slices, and cannellini beans to the minestrone; cook for an additional 5 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper, ladle into bowls, and serve alongside the pesto.