Romanesque soup with walnut-mint pesto

You can't beat a seasonal soup on a cool evening as we head into Autumn... Hearty yet fresh, it goes perfectly with a good chunk of Vicky's sourdough.

Difficulty:

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2

Romanesque soup with walnut-mint pesto Image 1

Romanesque soup with walnut-mint pesto Image 2

Related Tags

Vegan Fresh From Our Fields

Ingredients

300g Darts home-grown Romanesco
3 tbsp walnuts
10g fresh mint
1 onion
1 lemon, zest & juice
4 tbsp Honest Toil Olive Oil
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp Seasoned Pioneers tumeric
400ml Rude Health coconut milk
250ml water
1/2 tsp Dorset Sea Salt
Sugar, salt & black pepper to taste

Method

Clean Romanesco, remove stem and out leaves, and pluck florets. Peel onion and dice. Zest lemon, then halve and juice.
Heat the olive oil in the pot over medium-high heat and sauté the onion for approx. 1 min. Reduce heat, add Romanesco, and fry for approx. 3 min. Add the bay leaf and turmeric, then add coconut milk and water. Add salt to taste and simmer for approx. 15 min.
To make the pesto, pluck the mint leaves from the stems and roughly chop. Mix the mint with walnuts, olive oil, and lemon zest and purée. Add salt, which protects the bright green color of the mint. Season the pesto again with salt, sugar, and lemon juice to taste. Then set the pesto aside.
Remove the soup from the stove and purée with a hand blender until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice to taste and serve with walnut-mint pesto.