Ina Garten's Pesto Tip To Transform Homemade Soups
Pesto is a favorite sauce to coat some of our favorite pasta noodles or to use as a condiment on a sandwich. However, pesto is so much more than that. This flavorful sauce can also transform the taste of your homemade soup and no one knows this better than Ina Garten. According to her website, Garten uses a couple of tablespoons of this pesto when making her version of minestrone soup that she serves with garlic bruschetta.
This thick, green topping is generally made with basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese. It is quite savory and a perfect addition to dishes that can benefit from its rich flavor. But don't worry about having to break out the blender to make your own pesto because Garten follows her "store-bought is fine" philosophy for this addition. Of course, if you want to make her version of this sauce, she adds walnuts to her take on this classic.
Be creative with your pesto when adding to soup
To make her minestrone soup with pesto, Garten uses a hearty mix of vegetables that include carrots, onions, celery, squash, fresh spinach, and canned tomatoes. Additionally, the cookbook author adds cannellini beans, cooked pasta, and a little pancetta. The pesto is added towards the end with a splash of white wine. However, if you already have a favorite minestrone soup recipe, don't feel like you need to reinvent the wheel.
Adding pesto to a soup you already know and love is a simple and creative way to increase its flavor, and this herby sauce will do just that. And remember, not all pesto sauces have to be made with basil. A cilantro jalapeno pesto can add a spicy element to your vegetable soup, a parsley pesto can be more earthy to the tastebuds, and a red pepper pesto will complement the sweet elements of this dish. But don't forget to save a bit of this sauce so you can garnish each bowl with a dollop.