Shellfish Minestrone With Basil Pesto
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2ounces fresh basil leaves, a large fistful
- 1ounce Italian parsley leaves and tender stems, a small handful
- 2garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- Salt and pepper
- ½cup olive oil
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1large onion, diced, about 2 cups
- ½cup diced celery
- ½cup diced carrot
- Salt and pepper
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- Pinch saffron
- 8garlic cloves, minced
- 1bay leaf
- Small bundle fresh thyme sprigs
- 1cup chopped tomato
- 1cup cooked cannellini beans or fresh shell beans
- 24littleneck clams, well rinsed
- 7cups hot fish stock or chicken broth
- 1pound squid, cut crosswise in ½-inch rings, plus tentacles
- 1cup small green peas
- 1cup blanched and peeled fava beans, optional
For the Pesto
For the Minestrone
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the basil pesto: Put basil, parsley and 2 chopped garlic cloves in a blender. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add ½ cup olive oil and purée on high speed, scraping down sides as necessary. Pour into a small serving bowl, cover tightly and set aside.
- Step 2
Make the soup: Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot, season generously with salt and pepper and stir to coat. Cook for about 2 minutes, until softened. Add red pepper, saffron, 8 cloves minced garlic, bay leaf and thyme and let sizzle, then add tomato and simmer a few minutes more.
- Step 3
Stir in cannellini beans. Add clams, in one layer if possible, and 1 cup water. Turn heat to high and put on lid. Keep at a rapid simmer until all clams have opened, about 5 minutes. (If desired, remove clams, shuck them and return shucked clams to pot.) Add fish stock and bring to a simmer. Taste broth and adjust seasoning.
- Step 4
Just before serving, add squid, peas and fava beans, if desired, and simmer for 2 minutes. Ladle into shallow soup bowls and stir 2 teaspoons basil purée into each.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Pistou and the sweetness of veg are essential for adding another dimension to flavor, which was surprisingly one-note otherwise (despite making fish stock, clam broth, using fresh flageolet, etc.). I was lazy about peeling all those favas for soup, but ate them raw with pecorino as a first course.
This is simply divine! Don't like clams? Sub shrimp. I'd like a few more cannellini beans & I also used only 6 C of stock. No water. Used the food processor to do the chopping. Didn't take long at all to prepare.
Pistou and the sweetness of veg are essential for adding another dimension to flavor, which was surprisingly one-note otherwise (despite making fish stock, clam broth, using fresh flageolet, etc.). I was lazy about peeling all those favas for soup, but ate them raw with pecorino as a first course.
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