Pesto Broccoli Soup

[vyapti]

My wife is in for her third appointment for a complicated root canal. I was going to make cream of broccoli soup and decided to throw in some left over pesto from this weekend. It turned out great.

Pesto Broccoi Soup
1 ½ lb broccoli
½ lb cauliflower
1 medium onion
3 stalks celery
2 medium carrot
3-4 cloves garlic
2 ½ quarts chicken stock
3 tbs olive oil
1 cup whipping cream
2 tbs basic pesto (recipe follows)

Chop Onions, Celery and Carrots. Cook in olive oil until onions are soft. Add garlic and cook until you smell the aroma of cooked garlic, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, broccoli and cauliflower. Simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes. Blend the soup in a blender, or with a hand blender for chunkier soup. Return to heat and add cream and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat, but do not boil. Stir in pesto and serve.

Basic Pesto
2 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic

Roast garlic cloves over medium heat until they soften. Do not remove the husks until the garlic is roasted. Remove the husks and mince the garlic. Place basil, parmesan, oil and garlic into a food processor or blender. Process until basil is finely chopped.

Use pesto at once or place in a small jar, adding a thin layer of olive oil to keep pesto form darkening. Refrigerate for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage.

[marmalady]

Oooh, that sounds good! I especially like your use of broc and cauliflower together!

[Haggis]

This is similar to a recipe that I posted a little while ago.

Vegetable and Pesto Soup

[Piccolina]

Sounds awesome, my eyes just light up when I read the title...I've combined pesto with soups before, but not broccoli, I will certainly have to try this! Thanks for sharing your recipe, Vyapti


(I hope you wife is feeling better, how nice that she has you to cook for her after such a rough day at the dentist's.)