Summer Vegetable Minestrone Soup Recipe

Last month we celebrated our 25th Year at the first market we opened in Islington in 1999.

Celebrated chef Francesco Mazzei cooked a lovely soup at the market from fresh market produce. Everyone liked it so much we asked Francesco for the recipe. Do try it, it is perfect for a warm summer day.

COLD SUMMER VEGETABLES MINESTRONE, BASIL PESTO

Ingredients (serves 4):

100g white onion
100g celery
200g carrot
150gr potatoes
250g courgettes
150g green asparagus
200g French green beans
200g purple broccoli
300g beef tomatoes
25ml extra virgin olive oil

For the pesto:

400gr basil leaves
80ml extra virgin olive oil
20gr grated pecorino cheese
20gr grated Grana Padano cheese
½ clove of garlic
salt.

Method:

Soup:

Dice all the vegetables, around 1cm in size. Make a stock with all the peelings by adding to cold water and bringing to the boil for about 30 minutes.

In a pot, sweat the onion, celery, and carrot with the olive oil until soft. Add the potatoes and about 500ml of the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, adjust with salt, and remove from the heat. Let cool down.

Blanche the remaining vegetables one by one in salted boiling water, until soft but still with a bite, and then cool them in iced water. Drain and add to the already cold soup base. Add more stock if needed, bring to the boil once again and allow to cool down.

Score the skin of the tomatoes, blanche in boiling water and cool down in iced water. Once cold, peel them, remove the seeds and dice. Complete the minestrone with the tomato and basil pesto, adjust with salt if needed and serve at room temperature.

Pesto:

Blanche the basil leaves in boiling water and immediately cool down in iced water. Drain and transfer into a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and blitz until combined.