Step 1: Prep this simple soffritto and nutty pesto. Step 2: Make beautiful, clean soups on a whim.
Recipe information
Yield
4 Servings
Ingredients
Soffritto
¼
2
3
3
Pesto
2
1
1
1
⅔
½
½
Soup and Assembly
1
4
1
4
6
½
1
1
4
Preparation
Soffritto
Step 1
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Cook onions, leeks, and celery, stirring often, until soft but not browned, 6–8 minutes. Season with salt.
Step 2
Do Ahead: Soffritto can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill, or freeze up to 1 month.
Pesto
Step 3
Preheat oven to 350°. Toast pistachios on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown, 6–8 minutes. Let cool; crush using a small saucepan (you want a mix of sizes).
Step 4
Pulse garlic, basil, parsley, and ⅓ cup oil in a food processor until a coarse purée forms. Transfer to a medium bowl and mix with Parmesan, lemon zest, crushed nuts, and remaining ⅓ cup oil; season with salt and pepper.
Soup and Assembly
Step 5
Heat oil in a medium pot over medium-high. Cook thyme, bay leaf, and ½ cup soffritto, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. (Reserve remaining soffritto for another use.) Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add sugar snap peas; cook until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Add kale, beans, and peas and cook until kale is wilted and peas are tender, about 3 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper.
Step 6
Serve soup, topped with some Parmesan and red pepper flakes, with toast and pesto.
Nutrition Per Serving
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Reviews (10)
Back to TopSo far so good..but any suggestions about what to make with the extra soffritto?
Anonymous
New York
5/17/2020
This is a fabulous recipe. Was able to complete it in steps: one quart of homemade chicken broth in the freezer, prepared & froze the pesto 2 days ago, and made my beans from scratch yesterday. It came together beautifully, only I added all of the beans (1/2 lb dry) + their resulting cooking liquid to the final pot of soup. Wow! Simply delicious & gorgeous!
VH
Eugene, OR
5/22/2020
Gorgeous spring soup! Tastes as good as it looks. It's worth the little extra effort of making the 3 components. That pistachio pesto is something else! Will definitely make it again.
Susan D.
North Jersey
3/23/2021
First, in the end this was tasty but... why make us create cups and cups of soffrito, only to use 1/2 cup of it in the recipe. Ridiculous and wasteful. Now I have to figure out what to do with 6 cups of onion/leek/celery mixture.
Anonymous
San Francisco, CA
4/4/2021
I never leave comments on recipes, but this was so much trouble and so incredibly disappointing, I am going to. I followed the instructions carefully and used fresh herbs and decent chicken stock, and the result was a massive amount of vegetables in a murky, bland broth (my husband, who never complains about anything I make, talked about it being "peas two ways" and we all agreed it was just weird-- more like a hot salad than a soup). I like all the ingredients, but the only flavor in the recipe was the pesto on toast on the side. Give this one a pass.
Anonymous
St Paul, MN
4/19/2021
This is my first review! The ingredients in this recipe are lovely but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. I can't figure out why you would make more soffritto than you need, or even make it separately in the first place! Just add one diced onion, one large chopped leek, and 2 diced celery stalks to the pot when you start making the soup - adding it to the olive oil, bay, and thyme until nicely reduced and slightly caramelized. As for the pesto, don't save it for the bread (?), add it to the soup- almost all of it. It's delicious!
Anonymous
Portland, OR
4/21/2021