This delicious bean vegetable soup with homemade cashew pesto and croutons is the perfect hearty dinner dish. It’s made with three types of beans to bring all the different flavours and textures to this vegan, gluten free recipe.
I’ll share a secret with you… My mum has a magical power. No kidding, this is a fact. Her magic power is she can heal anyone with a bowl of homemade delicious soup.
No matter what the ailment, no matter what the heartache – it works. We’ve tested this on several occasions, and it works every single time.
To prove my point, let me share a couple of anecdotes. 10 years ago I got really sick. I couldn’t leave my bed for a week. No medications helped me, and I felt so weak. But… mum to the rescue! She came round with a delicious bowl of soup and suddenly, the same evening, all my strength returned, and I instantly felt so much better. I’m telling you – magic!
The other story to prove my mum’s power is about my grandma. On her last day, she was able to walk around her flat after she ate my mum’s delicious soup. It was the last time we saw her strong and smiling. This one magical bowl of soup gave my grandma so much strength that we’ll be able to remember her as a fighter.
Now, I won’t be able to share the exact recipe for this magical soup. You know – superheroes don’t share their secrets :). However, I can share the essence (I hope my mum won’t get mad about this!) of this ultimate bean vegetable soup.
Bean Vegetable Soup Recipe Tips
I think every family has their own tips and tricks for the most delicious soup. However if you want to make the best bean vegetable soup, I’d like to share some notes from my side:
- Beans – use at least a couple of different types of beans. This way, you’ll easily add texture and different flavours to your dish. I used butter, red kidney and pinto beans, but you can also add black, cannellini or garbanzo beans.
- Soak the beans a day before you make the soup. This reduces the cooking time.
- If you don’t have dried beans, you can use canned beans.
- To give a smooth texture, I blitzed the vegetables to make a purée. You can skip this step if you’d like.
- Potatoes – for a different flavour you can swap regular potatoes to sweet potatoes.
- You can change cashew pesto to a simple pesto. However, the aroma of fresh parsley works amazingly with this humble bean vegetable soup.
Recipe
Ingredients
Soup:
100g dried beans (butter, red kidney and pinto)
2 carrots
1 leek
1 litre vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
10 peppercorns
200g potatoes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh parsley
Cashew Pesto:
A bunch of fresh parsley
50g cashews
50g cheddar cheese
Olive oil
Method
- Rinse the dried beans and cover them with water. Leave the beans for up to 12 hours to soak.
Prepare the soup:
2. Cook the beans for 40 minutes until they get soft.
3. Finely chop the carrots and leek. Fry them in a separate large pot with a drizzle of olive oil until they get soft.
4. Pour in the vegetable broth, 1 litre of water, 1/3 of the cooked beans, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cook for 30 minutes.
5. Take out the bay leaves and peppercorns.
6. Transfer the soup to a blender to make a purée.
7. Returning the soup to the pot, add the remaining beans and potatoes (cut into small chunks).
8. Leave the soup to simmer for 20 minutes and season to your liking.
Prepare the pesto:
9. Using a pestle and mortar, pound the fresh parsley to a paste.
10. Add the cheddar cheese and cashews, and pound everything together.
11. Drizzle over some olive oil and season to taste.
Serve the soup:
12. Serve the soup with fresh parsley, a dollop of pesto and croutons.
