Butterbean Soup with Rocket Pesto

Butterbean Soup with Rocket Pesto

Angela Nilsen (contributor to The Soup Book) describes this soup as perfect for serving at a supper party. I'm not really sure what a supper party is, so am not in a position to agree or disagree. The soup ingredients are olive oil, onion, celery, garlic, prosciutto, dried crushed chillies, basil, stock, spaghetti and a can of butterbeans. The onion and celery are fried in olive oil, then the garlic is added and fried. Next in are the prosciutto and chillies. No more frying. The basil, stock and spaghetti are added and brought to the boil and simmered until the spaghetti is al dente. You whizz a few ladlefuls of the soup in a processor or blender then pour it back into the pot with the rest of the soup. The pesto (rocket, basil, Parmesan cheese, toasted pine nuts, garlic and olive oil whizzed in a small blender) is spooned on top of the soup when serving.

I made this soup last Saturday (13th August) and the four of us had it for dinner. It was very good, surprisingly so, and the pesto was luscious. It wasn't substantial enough for a meal on its own so I made bacon rolls too. What a treat!

Bee Brief

The last few days have been ...somewhat exasperating on the work front, leaving me with very little time and energy to do justice to this blog entry. So, quickly, I have come across a couple of references to Carol Ann Duffy's new book of poems, The Bees, due to be published this autumn. Someone has posted her poem The Human Bee on a blog entitled Honey, Honey ... Don't Stop. Take a look. And now it's Minnie's bedtime.

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