Name: Green minestrone with mint pesto
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Yield: serves 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: black pepper, to taste; 3 small shallots, finely diced; 2 tbsp / 30 ml olive oil; 1 small garlic clove, sliced; pinch of coarse salt; 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced; 6 in / 10 cm leek (green part), finely sliced; 2 carrots, diced finely; 2 celery stalks, diced finely; ½ small fennel bulb, finely sliced; 8 small new potatoes; a few broccoli florets; small bunch of asparagus, cut into 2 cm pieces; ½ cup of fresh broad beans, podded; 2 cups of favourite beans (chickpeas, cannellini, black-eyed peas), cooked; ½ cup fresh garden peas; 6 baby courgettes, sliced into 1 cm slices; about 2 tsp salt (less if your stock contains salt); fresh lemon juice, to taste; 1½ litres of vegetable stock, unsalted; toasted sourdough bread, to serve (optional); 10 almonds, chopped roughly; leaves from 5 sprigs of mint, roughly chopped; juice of approx. ½ lemon; about 4 tbsp / 60 ml extra virgin olive oil; grind of black pepper

Green minestrone with mint pesto

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Green minestrone is our interpretation of the Italian classic. Its delicate flavour gets spruced up with a dollop of mint pesto. 100% vegan and gluten-free.

By: Ania (via Lazycatkitchen)

Original Publish: Apr 19, 2016

Last Updated: Mar 1, 2026

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 15 mins

Yields: serves 4

Nutrition Facts

529.61 Calories

20.48 gramsProtein

61.67 gramsCarbs

25.42 gramsFat

Instructions

Heat up olive oil in a heavy bottom pot. Add shallots, garlic and leeks. Fry them gently, stirring regularly, until shallots are translucent and leeks turn bright green. Add diced carrot, celery and fennel and fry for another two minutes stirring frequently.
Pour in vegetable stock and add about 1 tsp of salt. Bring the stock to a gentle boil.
If you want to shell broad beans for the soup, it's a good idea to cook them separately. Put them into a small pot of boiling water. Simmer for about 5 minutes, test one and if ready, drain quickly and refresh under a cold tap. If you want to make sure broad beans keep their vibrant colour, prepare a bowl of iced water and plunge them into it straight after draining. Shell and add to the soup at the end.
As for the remaining vegetables, it's best to cook them in the soup, although the exact timings may vary slightly depending on the size of your produce. Start with new potatoes. Put them into the simmering soup and simmer them for about 6 minutes (they usually take between 10-12 minutes to cook). After 6 minutes add broccoli florets and after another 3 minutes, add asparagus pieces. After another minute, chuck in courgette slices and fresh peas and simmer for a further 2 minutes.
Add in cooked beans and bread beans just to warm them through.