Tomato & White Bean Soup with Pesto

Ingredients

• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 1 x 400g tin white beans, cannellini, drained
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 600 ml vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 4 tsp basil pesto
• 40 g parmesan, grated
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• Natural yoghurt, to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and grated carrot with a generous pinch of salt — the salt pulls the moisture out and helps them soften rather than colour. Cook for 6–7 minutes until the onion is translucent and sweet-smelling.
2. Stir in the crushed garlic and dried oregano and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic go past pale gold — burnt garlic turns the whole pot bitter and there's no rescuing it.
3. Tip in the chopped red pepper and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, to take the raw edge off. You want the pepper softening at the edges, not browning.
4. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and the vegetable stock — the stock is what breaks the tinned tomatoes down so they taste of summer fruit rather than heated tin. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 12 minutes, until the pepper is completely tender and the soup smells sweet rather than sharp.
5. Add the drained cannellini beans and simmer for another 5 minutes to warm them through and let them pick up the flavour of the broth.
6. Take the pot off the heat and blitz with a stick blender most of the way smooth, leaving a few whole beans and some pepper texture for body — a totally smooth soup loses its character.
7. Taste, season, taste again. Adjust the salt and pepper now — at the stove, not at the table. The beans and tomatoes both drink salt, so it usually needs more than you'd think.
8. Ladle into warm bowls. Spoon a teaspoon of pesto into the centre of each, scatter with the grated parmesan, finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a generous crack of black pepper, and serve with crusty sourdough alongside for dunking.