Summer Vegetable Soup with Pesto Recipe

By Aggieskitchen

Need to get rid of some summer produce? Then this is your soup.

I love to make soup on Sundays and have it already in the fridge ready to go for a quick weekday lunch or dinner. It comes in especially handy on nights where we have activities planned after school, so a nice bowl of healthy soup and a sandwich works out just fine. When I make soup, I definitely go heavy on the veggies as you’ll notice in this recipe. I was inspired by my produce drawer and all my favorite summer veggies…enjoy them while they are still around!

And did I mention you can make this in the slow cooker too? Bonus!

Summer Vegetable Soup with Pesto

Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoon pesto (preferably homemade, but store bought is fine)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red or orange bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large zucchini, chopped
• 2 summer squash, chopped
• 1 can kidney beans, drained but not rinsed
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained but not rinsed
• 1 large can of diced tomatoes (I used regular, but Italian seasoned is fine)
• 1/4-1/2 cup of water (I add water to tomato can and swirl to pick up any additional juice from can)
• pinch salt and pepper to taste
• julienned basil, for garnish
• Parmesan, grated, for serving

Directions

1. Add pesto, onions and garlic to large pot over medium heat. Stir with wooden spoon and cook for a few minutes till onions begin to soften. Add bell pepper, zucchini and squash to pot and combine gently until all vegetables are coated in pesto. Cook for a few more minutes until vegetables begin to soften.
2. At this pointed I transferred vegetable mixture to crockpot. With the vegetables I added the beans, tomatoes, water salt and pepper to crockpot, set it on high and let it cook for 3-4 hours.
3. If you prefer to leave it on stove top, add beans, tomatoes, water, salt and pepper to pot and bring to a slow boil. Once it’s boiling, bring soup down to a simmer and let cook for about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
4. Serve with grated Parmesan and julienned basil for a light summer dinner.