Description: Serve this hearty soup with tasty, pesto-topped French bread croutons.
Submitted by: Lady~Culin on 2003-08-24 14:57:47
Serves: 4
Prep Time: about 45 minutes
Difficulty: Difficult
Ingredients
115g/ 4 oz/ 1/2 cup mixed dried beans, soaked overnight and drained15 ml/ 1 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 vegetable stock, (boullion cube)
400 g/ 14 oz can or jar pimientos
45-60ml/ 3-4 tbsp tomato puree (paste)
115g/ 4 oz dried pasta shapes
4 slices french bread
15 ml/ 1 tbsp. pesto sauce
115g/ 4 oz/ 1 cup baby corn cobs, halved
50g/ 2 oz broccoli florets
50 g/ 2 oz cauliflower florets
Few drops Tabasco sauce
Salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
Place beans in a large pan and cover with water. Bring to boil and boil rapidly 15 minutes.Drain and cover with fresh water. Bring to boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes, or until nearly tender.
When beans are almost ready, heat oil in a large pan and cook vegetables for 2 minutes.
Add stock cube and beans with about 600ml/ 1 pint/ 2 1/2 cups of their liquid. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, puree pimientos with a little of their liquid and add to pan. Stir in tomato puree and pasta and cook for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200 c/ 400 f/ Gas 6.
Whiule oven is heating, make pesto croutons. Spread French bread with pesto sauce and bake 10 minutes, or until crisp.
When pasta is just cooked, add corn cobs, broccoli, cauliflower, Tabasco, and seasoning to taste. Heat 2-3 minutes and serve with pesto croutons.
Give a hearty round of applause to the cook!