| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 40 min |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 pound green or yellow wax beans
- 1 small zucchini or yellow summer squash
- 1 15-ounce can white beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup broken spaghetti or other small pasta
- 3/4 cup store-bought pesto
- Grated parmesan cheese and crusty bread, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and onion and cook, stirring constantly, until the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and 1 tablespoon salt and cook 1 more minute. Add 7 cups water, cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, trim the green beans and zucchini and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Stir into the prepared broth along with the beans and spaghetti. Simmer until the pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes.
- When ready to serve, whisk 1/3 cup pesto into the soup. Ladle into bowls and top with the remaining pesto. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve with bread, if desired.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 479 |
| Total Fat | 30 grams |
| Saturated Fat | 7 grams |
| Cholesterol | 15 milligrams |
| Sodium | 1,922 milligrams |
| Carbohydrates | 39 grams |
| Dietary Fiber | 9 grams |
| Protein | 17 grams |
Reviews
I make this soup pretty frequently.. I double it and add extra veggies such as celery, chopped up broccoli or even cauliflour..I add miso as well – one delectable bowl of soup!
My FAVORITE recipe out of “Great Easy Meals” so far! This soup looks SO fancy when its finished.
If someone had introduced fresh green beans to me as child (instead of that canned mess I would have eaten them a lot more.
If someone had introduced fresh green beans to me as child (instead of that canned mess I would have eaten them a lot more.
This soup goes together quickly. It tastes similar to minestrone, but richer and more flavorful.
While it’s very good as is, after tasting it, I made some modifications. I added the whole small can of tomato paste, plus more garlic. The amount of vegetables called for seemed a bit scant, so I put about 50% more of each. I also put slightly more than 1/2 C. of pesto into the soup.
I purchased a little over 1 1/2 C. of freshly-made pesto and was glad I did. We put generous amounts of it onto the soup, as well as lots of cheese.
Ciabatta bread nicely soaked up what juice we couldn’t get to with a spoon.
The soup came out a little bland at first. I added some italian seasoning, extra garlic, and made my own homemade pesto. I stirred in some pesto at the end and then before serving i dolloped some more on top of each bowl. I also added 2 extra tablespoons of tomato paste at the end and stirred it in so it would have some extra tomato flavor. I also grated in some fresh pecorino romano cheese b/c I had some one hand. And, I grated some more in each bowl when serving. Delicious! My husband even loved it!