Minestrone Verde

The green vegetable soup is perfect for spring. I like to make it easier by using frozen broadbeans and peas. Nor do I bother with making my own pesto. I just buy it fresh, from the Italian deli. Make sure you cook everything well, so all the flavours come together. There is nothing worse than watery minestrone with crisp vegetables. The vegetables should be chopped roughly the same size as the broadbeans.

Ingredients
500g frozen broadbeans
1 chopped red onion
200g chopped bacon
250g chopped green asparagus
250g chopped waxy potato
250g frozen peas
20g butter
1 litre of chicken stock (fake is fine)
1 heaped tbsp of cream (45% fat)
1 heaped tbsp of pesto, plus extra
Fresh black pepper
Freshly chopped parsley
Extra virgin olive oil

Method
Blanch the broadbeans for a minute to loosen the skins. Drain and allow to cool a little. Peel of their skins and discard. Reserve the beans.

In a soup pot, cook the butter, onion and bacon slowly, over a low heat for about 20 minutes.

Allow the onion to fuse with the bacon, without colouring.

Add all the vegetables.

Top with the stock and simmer everything together for 1 hour.

Puree some of the soup and add it back to the pot. This will give it some body and bring it all together.

Add the cream and reheat gently.

Turn of the heat and add the pesto and parsley. Add salt if it needs it and black pepper.

Serve in soup bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and a spoonful of pesto. Enough for 4.