Menestron, Peruvian Basil Vegetable Soup
Menestron came to Peru with Italian immigrants and grew into something distinctly Andean: a big vegetable soup built on potato and white beans, then stained green with a blended sauce of basil and spinach. The traditional version leans on queso fresco and evaporated milk for body, so here a small handful of walnuts and a splash of soy milk do that work instead, blended smooth so the soup turns creamy and green without a trace of dairy or oil. Everything but the sauce simmers in one pot, and the sauce goes in at the very end to keep its color bright. It is a whole meal in a bowl, cheap enough to make by the potful, and better the next day once the flavors settle.
Ingredients
- 1 whole Yellow onions, diced
- 4 cloves Garlic, minced
- 2 wholes Carrots (cooking), diced
- 2 wholes Potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 1/2 cups Green beans, cut into 1 inch lengths
- 1 whole Zucchini, diced
- 1 1/2 cups Great northern beans, cooked, drained
- 3/4 cup Whole wheat short pasta
- 1/2 cup Canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp no-salt vegetable bouillon
- 3 cups Spinach, packed
- 1 cup Basil, packed leaves
- 3 tbsp Walnuts
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened soy milk
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
Method
- Sweat the onion and half the garlic in a large pot with a few tablespoons of water until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes, adding a splash more water if the pot dries out. Menestron starts like any soup, with the onion coaxed sweet in water rather than oil, because that slow base is what lets the vegetables taste of themselves later.
- Add the carrots, potatoes, crushed tomatoes, bouillon, and 6 cups (1.4 L) water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes are nearly tender, about 12 minutes. The densest vegetables go in first so everything finishes at once, and the potato starch quietly thickens the broth as it cooks.
- Stir in the green beans, zucchini, and the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is al dente and the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Small whole-grain shapes hold their bite in soup where thin noodles would turn to paste, so start tasting a minute early.
- While the soup simmers, blend the spinach, basil, walnuts, soy milk, and remaining garlic with a pinch of water into a smooth green sauce. This is the salsa that makes it menestron and not minestrone: the walnuts and soy milk stand in for the queso fresco and evaporated milk a Peruvian cook would use, giving richness with no dairy.
- Take the pot off the heat, stir in the cooked white beans, then swirl in the green sauce. Add the sauce off the heat on purpose, because a hard boil turns the basil and spinach a drab olive and cooks out their fresh, grassy lift.
- Grind in the black pepper and taste. The sauce carries the flavor in place of salt, so if the bowl seems flat, it wants a little more pepper or a squeeze of lime, not more salt.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 250 calories, 11 g protein, 9 g fiber, 95 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
