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Barley Minestrone With Pesto

Top this soup with a dollop of our homemade pesto, which you can make in a mini food processor or blender. In a hurry? Store-bought pesto makes an excellent stand-in—although it’s not as light as our version.
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Ingredients

6 Main-Dish Servings

minestrone

  • 1 cup pearl barley
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cups thinly sliced green cabbage about ¼ small head
  • 2 large carrots peeled, each cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise into ½-inch-thick slices
  • 2 large stalks celery cut into ½-inch dice
  • 1 onion cut into ½-inch dice
  • 1 garlic clove finely chopped
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 cans 14½ ounces each vegetable broth
  • 1 can 14½ ounces diced tomatoes
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 medium zucchini 8 ounces, cut into ½-inch dice
  • 4 ounces green beans trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces (1 cup)

light pesto

Instructions

  • Heat 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot.
  • Add barley and cook until toasted and fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly.
  • Transfer barley to small bowl; set aside.
  • Add oil to same Dutch oven.
  • When hot, add cabbage, carrots, celery, and onion; cook until tender and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
  • Stir in barley, water, broth, tomatoes with their juice, and salt.
  • Cover and heat to boiling over high heat.
  • Turn heat to low and simmer 25 minutes.
  • Stir zucchini and beans into pot; increase heat to medium, cover, and cook until vegetables are barely tender, 10 to 15 minutes longer.
  • Meanwhile, prepare pesto: In blender container with narrow base or in mini food processor, combine basil, oil, water, and salt; cover and blend until mixture is pureed.
  • Transfer pesto to small bowl; stir in Romano and garlic.
  • Makes about ½ cup pesto.
  • Ladle minestrone into large soup bowls.
  • Top each serving with a dollop of Light Pesto.
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Course; Soup
Cuisine; European / Italian