Minestrone is an Italian soup which takes its name from “minestra” which refers to a hearty or chunky soup. There are probably as many different recipes for minestrone as there are people who cook it and every region of Italy has its traditional minestrone soup for which it is famous. However, all minestrone soups usually feature a tomato based broth (this could be thin or thick) with onion, celery, beans, seasonal vegetables and sometimes pasta or rice.

So minestrone is a soup that very easily adapts itself to what is available in one’s kitchen. And given the ingredients it accommodates, it makes for a nutritious and filling one-dish meal.

This recipe is adapted from Tarla Dalal’s The Complete Italian Cookbook. She says that this particular minestrone with pesto is from Milan. The pesto lends the minestrone a nutty flavour and can be made ahead, but add it just before you finish making the minestrone. This minestrone is best served as soon as it is made.

To lighten this dish do not cook in oil instead cook in a nonstick skillet and spray with cooking spray.