Garlic Girl’s Chicken, Bean and Pesto Soup

This soup has a lot of great flavors and textures, and you will love the way the pesto adds a wonderful twist! I hope you try it!

Garlic Girl’s Chicken, Bean and Pesto Soup

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked chicken breast
4 c vegetable broth – I used an organic brand from Trader Joes. I can’t recall the name, but I’ll add it here later because it’s the best I’ve found.
1 small can, white beans, either navy or cannelini
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
4 carrots, coarsely chopped
4 celery sticks, coarsely chopped
2 c kale, chopped
1 small can stewed tomatoes, I used fire-roasted that included diced green chilie from Trader Joes and I think that may have added a little extra flavor.
1 tbls dried basil
¼ c grated pecorina romano or your favorite hard cheese

Pesto

About a dozen fresh basil leaves, stems removed, rinsed and dried
1/3 c hulled pistachios
About ¼ c extra virgin olive oil
2 fresh garlic cloves, peeled and blanched. I actually dropped them in the soup for a few minutes and then spooned them out before I used them for the pesto.
The juice of one fresh lemon
note – if you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender or a mortar and pestle.

Preparation

• Heat a couple tbls of olive oil on medium heat in large skillet.
• Add chicken breast, cook for about five minutes until slightly browned. It’s not necessary that the chicken is fully cooked. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
• To the heated pan, and in the same oil – add the onions, carrots and celery, and a little salt to taste. Cook for about 15-20 minutes until all the veggies become a little tender.
• Now add the tomatoes, chicken broth, beans and kale – and you can now return the chicken to pan with everything else. Add a little pepper and some more salt if needed.
• Bring all to a slight bowl and then turn the heat down to medium low.
• While the soup is simmering, it’s time to start adding a little water. It’s important to keep your eye on the amount of liquid vs. the veggies and the chicken as the soup cooks. If you like it less soupy, you will add less water. If you like a little more broth, of course you’ll want to add more water. I added about 2 c of water.
• Cover loosely with a lid and let simmer for about another 20 minutes.

Pesto

• While the soup is simmering, it’s time to prepare the simple pesto.
• In a small food processor, add the basil, a couple tbls of the olive oil, and the pistachios.
• Process quickly so that everything just blends together to make a chunky and sort of thick paste. Like pesto! : )
• Put in a little bowl and have the lemon ready to squeeze into it when you’re ready to serve the soup.

Serving

• Once the soup has simmered and is ready, use a slotted spoon to scoop out enough veggies, beans and chicken for one serving. Place in a single serving bowl.
• Now ladle out some of the broth and pour over the contents in the bowl. I like to put just enough broth so that the veggies and meat are above the broth.
• Now you’re going to put a spoonful of the pesto on the top and give a quick stir. Remember to add the lemon before you do that. The lemon makes all the difference!
• If you want to add a little grated cheese, now’s the time to do it. And if you’d like, add some freshly ground black pepper.
• Serve hot!

This is a hearty soup even with all the veggies, so you don’t need much! A little warm artisan bread, a little wine – and maybe even a small and simple salad with a little olive oil and vinegar would be perfecto!

Enjoy!