Ratatouille soup with homemade pesto

Method11 steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Prepare the soup vegetables in small, bite-sized pieces.

   Uses 1 cup chopped white onion · 2 cloves garlic for the soup, chopped · 2 cups Roma tomatoes, cored and diced · 2 cups diced eggplant, about 1 small eggplant · 2 cups diced yellow summer squash · 1 cup diced orange bell pepper, about 1 large pepper · 2 cups diced zucchini

2. 2

   Step 2: Heat the 1 tablespoon soup olive oil in a large soup pot.

   Uses 1 tbsp olive oil for the soup

3. 3

   Step 3: Sweat the chopped soup garlic and white onion over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the diced pepper and eggplant, Herbes de Provence (1 tsp) and fleur de sel (1 tsp), then sauté for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

   Uses Prepared white onion, soup garlic, bell pepper and eggplant · Heated soup olive oil · 1 tsp Herbes de Provence · 1 tsp fleur de sel

4. 4

   Step 4: Let the eggplant cook thoroughly as the recipe continues; it should be tender in the finished soup.

   Uses Sautéed eggplant and aromatics

5. 5

   Step 5: Add the diced Roma tomatoes (2 cans), both cans of diced tomatoes, zucchini, yellow summer squash and 8 cups soup water.

   Uses Sautéed eggplant and aromatics · Prepared Roma tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash · 2 cans diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz each · 8 cups water for the soup

6. 6

   Step 6: Stir and bring to a simmer, then cover halfway and reduce to medium-low heat.

   Uses Vegetable soup base

7. 7

   Step 7: Gently simmer for 1 hour, stirring about every 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the separately listed additional cup of water if desired to adjust the consistency.

   Simmer soup · 60 minUses Gently simmering vegetable soup · 1 additional cup water if desired for soup consistency

8. 8

   Step 8: While the soup simmers, prepare the homemade pesto.

9. 9

   Step 9: Pulse the pesto pine nuts (1/3 cup) and 3 garlic cloves in a food processor until finely chopped.

   Uses 3 cloves garlic for the pesto · 1/3 cup pine nuts for the pesto

10. 10

    Step 10: Add the dry basil (2 cups) leaves, 1/2 cup grated pesto Parmesan and 1/2 cup pesto olive oil. Pulse until finely chopped and fully blended.

    Uses Chopped pesto garlic and pine nuts · 2 cups fresh basil for the pesto · 1/2 cup grated Parmesan for the pesto · 1/2 cup olive oil for the pesto

11. 11

    Step 11: Grate some additional Parmesan into the bottom of each serving bowl. Ladle in the cooked soup, add more grated Parmesan on top and finish each bowl with a spoonful of homemade pesto. Serve, and reserve any unused pesto, covered and refrigerated, for another use.

    Uses Cooked ratatouille soup · Homemade pesto, a spoonful per bowl · Additional grated Parmesan for the serving bowls