Classic minestrone soup is infused with umami from miso herb pesto. This modern addition is reminiscent of “soupe au pistou” where traditional pesto is stirred into a vegetable soup in the Provence region of France. The short cut pasta is kept separate until serving, to maintain the brothiness of the soup.
cook pasta/MAKE PESTO: 20 mins
prep: 20 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
total: 55 mins
There’s nothing like a comforting bowl of warm minestrone soup, full of veggies, beans and little pasta shapes. And yet, if I’m being honest, classic minestrone soup doesn’t really contain a lot of flavor. To that end, I was inspired to adjust the ingredients and seasonings to yield a more fulfilling minestrone soup. The most notable update is stirring in some of my Garlicky Miso Herb Pesto (included in recipe card below) to give the soup umami, tang, garlic and herby notes. Additionally, I’ve included shiitake mushrooms and switched out some more typical veg (such as green beans, onion, and celery) for colored sweet peppers, leeks, and kale. Finally, the pasta is kept separate until serving, to yield a brothy soup, not overly full of starch, and lemon is squeezed over the final result for a final punch of flavor.
What you’ll love about this recipe!
🍽️ Variation on a classic: Italian minestrone soup is enhanced with shiitake mushrooms and similar to the classic Provencal “soupe au pistou” (a.k.a. pesto soup) a miso herb pesto is stirred into the soup before serving.
🥫Pantry staples: the four pantry staples of canned beans, canned tomatoes, pasta and veggie bouillon form the base of this soup.
🫑 Selection of veggies: most notably, shiitake mushrooms add the biggest flavor boost. A colored sweet pepper (I used purple) and using leeks over onions give the soup some personality as well. Note, there is no celery in this soup. We are getting our flavor from other veggies in this recipe.
🍋 Bright flavor: the miso pesto adds umami and a rich, savory flavor, while the lemon gives the soup a punchy brightness.
🍝 The pasta: Using short cut pasta makes the soup easy to eat, and cooking the pasta separately from the soup (adding when serving), keeps the soup brothy and eliminates the problem of the pasta soaking up all the liquid from the soup.
🧄 Garlicky: I especially love the level of garlic in the pesto, which in turn enhances the soup nicely. Sometimes raw garlic needs to be kept in check so it does not over power a pesto, but mixed with the miso, in this recipe, the garlic really adds great flavor.
🍃 Herbaceous: In traditional pesto, basil is the main flavor. In this soup the combination of herbs in the pesto lends an herby flavor, but the blend makes the flavor less dominant.
🤩 New flavors: The whole is more than the sum of the parts with this recipe, whereby the pesto and shiitakes add so much flavor which makes for a more interesting soup than classic minestrone.
What is miso paste
Miso is a fermented bean paste that is salty but also has a complex flavor that makes it a great ingredient for many recipes. The blend of both fermented soy beans and rice, combined with the amount of time the paste is fermented, creates different types of miso.
Ingredient Notes
- Miso pesto- you will take 5 minutes to blend this up for your soup. It’s a flexible recipe and you can sub a variety of herbs depending on your preference (though I make 4 solid recommendations). You can also sub pine nuts for the walnuts in the pesto. I recommend sticking with white miso, however, for its milder flavor.
- Vegetables- I recommend leeks, carrots, kale, zucchini, pepper (any color), summer squash, and shiitake mushrooms. The shiitake mushrooms add lots of flavor so I highly recommend them. Any type of kale works and you can sub spinach, chard or collard greens, all chopped up well. You can sub green, white or red onion for the leeks, but I favor the mild and buttery flavor of the leeks.
- Pantry staples- Four pantry staples round out the ingredients for this soup and they are any type of short cut pasta, a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (I used basil & garlic flavored), a 15 oz drained and rinsed can of white northern beans (sub cannellini or any other smallish white bean), and some type of vegetable bouillon.
Above three photos show: the vegetables for the soup, the pantry ingredients for the soup, and the ingredients measured out for the miso pesto.
Soupe au Pistou
In the Provence region of France, “soupe au pistou” refers to a minestrone style vegetable soup with pesto stirred into the broth for flavor.
Step-by-step instructions
Make the Miso Herb Pesto:
Prepare the herbs: once you have chosen the blend of herbs, be sure to thoroughly rinse them (especially if picked from your garden), before chopping them. Herbs with woody stems like thyme, need to have the leaves stripped from the stems, where as the stems of parsley and basil can be included (sage can go either way- depending on the plant).
Roughly chop the walnuts and garlic and juice lemon: Since the pesto will be heavily blended in the food processor, you can just quickly roughly chop the walnuts and garlic. Juice the lemon, but discard any seeds (they are bitter).
Blend the ingredients: First you’ll blend the herbs, nuts and garlic, then you will add in the miso and lemon, and finally, you will drizzle in the oil, with the processor running.
Process for up to a minute: depending on the size of your processer and the sharpness of your blade, you will process for about a minute. The goal is to achieve a smooth green consistency.
Above: Here is the first stage of blending the ingredients. This shows the herbs, garlic and nuts ground to a pretty fine consistency. Once the miso, lemon and olive oil are added the ingredients will be able to blend into a pure green spread consistency.
Cook the pasta: Put the water on to boil, add the pasta and cook till all dente.
Start the soup: Beginning with the aromatics, saute the mushrooms, carrots, and leeks in the olive oil for a few minutes. Once they begin to soften and release liquid, add in the fresh chopped parsley and thyme sprigs (I forgot to add the sprigs until the next step in these photos). This layered saute timing allows the flavors to develop.
Above: At left the aromatic vegetables are sauteed to develop flavor, and then the fresh herbs are added to saute and further develop the flavors for the soup.
Finish the soup: Add in the rest of the chopped veggies, stir and saute a few minutes then finally, add the tomatoes, broth, drained and rinsed beans, and miso pesto, stir and cook for the final 10 minutes.
Above: the rest of the vegetables are added (and sprigs of thyme), sautéed for a bit, and finally the tomatoes, broth, beans, and pesto are added to cook for 10 minutes.
Above: the fermented bean paste that is called miso, adds tremendous flavor to the soup and as you can see here, it also adds a bit of texture, with the miso solids that partially dissolve, but have some bits visible.
Tips for making and serving this recipe
- Miso herb pesto: I’ve specified an amount of pesto to make for this recipe that is less than what is specified in the separate Miso Herb Pesto Recipe I also have on my blog, so there is not too much left over, but feel free to make the larger amount if you want to have it on hand for a couple of weeks.
- Cook time: adding the aromatics, then herbs, then rest of veggies and finally the beans and brothy ingredients along with the pesto allows the soup to develop flavor along the way. That said, I recommend sticking to the total 20 min cook time. This keeps the soup fresh, where the veggies maintain more color and a bit of bite, versus the mushy consistency of an overcooked vegetable soup.
- Pasta hack: cooking the pasta on its own and keeping it separate from the soup until serving time really helps the soup maintain its brothy consistency. When pasta is cooked in the soup or even added to the soup after it is cooked, it will absolutely soak up all the liquid in the soup (very disappointing). You can lightly microwave the pasta if it’s cooled down, or simply time it to be drained when you are ready to eat.
- Garnishes: a dollop of the miso pesto and some grated lemon rind add brightness to the soup. You can thin the miso a bit with a little water if you’d like to get the drizzle effect, and don’t forget the final squeeze of lemon over the serving bowls. It really brings the soup alive.
Other recipes using miso pesto
You can make a big batch of Miso Herb Pesto (more than what is used in this recipe) to serve as a salad dressing or pasta sauce. Try my Miso Herb Roasted Chicken or Miso Pesto Roasted Vegetables Over Jasmine Rice, for other great flavorful recipes I’ve developed with miso herb pesto.
More favorite soup recipes
If you love this minestrone soup, try one of these delicious soup recipes next:
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Miso Pesto Minestrone Soup (Vegan “Soupe au Pistou”)
Ingredients
Miso Herb Pesto Ingredients
- 2 cups mixed fresh herbs, chopped (parsley, basil, thyme, sage (see notes))
- 1/4 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped (can sub pine nuts)
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 2 small garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp white miso (this is the milder type of miso)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Vegetables for Soup
- 1 leek large (or 2 if small, sub any medium onion or bunch scallions)
- 2 carrots medium
- 6 shiitake mushrooms, medium (more if smaller, or only 4 if they are quite big.)
- 2 cups kale (I used a couple leaves each of lacinato and a curly edged kale)
- 1 zucchini, medium
- 1 summer squash, medium
- 1 sweet pepper, medium (any color, I used purple!)
- 1 handful fresh parsley
- 1 handful fresh thyme sprigs (on or off stems)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon, optional (for garnish, including squirt of juice as garnish)
Pantry Ingredients
- 8 oz short cut pasta (uncooked, I used rigatti)
- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes (I used Marzano flavored with basil & garlic)
- 15 oz great northern beans, canned (sub cannelini or other small white bean)
- 2 cups vegetable broth (I use half strength for a sodium level around 330mg per cup. see notes)
Method:
Make Miso Herb Pesto – 5 min
- Place the 2 cups mixed fresh herbs, chopped, 1/4 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped and 2 small garlic cloves in a food processor and blend until everything is finely ground.
- Add in the 2 tbsp white miso and 1/2 lemon, juiced and continue to blend into a paste consistency.
- Gradually add in the 1/4 cup olive oil with the processor running, and run the processor for a minute or so, to get a smooth, green consistency. See notes.
- Use right away, or refrigerate covered for a week or more, to use as you like. The flavor only gets better. See separate recipe post for additional tips and suggestions for using, other than this recipe.
Cook Pasta – 15 min
- Cook pasta according to directions, then drain and rinse under cool water to remove excess starch. Keep aside until serving soup. See notes.
Make soup – 15 min prep/chop, 20 min cook
- Saute chopped 1 leek large, 2 carrots medium and 6 shiitake mushrooms, medium in 1/4 cup olive oil for 5 minutes to soften.
- Add chopped 1 handful fresh parsley and 1 handful fresh thyme sprigs and saute another 5 minutes to allow herbs to start infusing veggies with flavor.
- Add rest of veggies, chopped: 1 zucchini, medium, 1 summer squash, medium, 2 cups kale, 1 sweet pepper, medium. Saute a few minutes to get the flavors going.
- Add the 14.5 oz diced tomatoes , 2 cups vegetable broth, and 15 oz great northern beans, canned (drained and rinsed), 1/3 cup of the miso pesto and cook about 10 minutes. see notes.
Serve
- Serve up with desired amount of pasta per serving, a dollop of pesto, a quick grate of lemon rind and squirt of lemon juice.
