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Creamy Carrot Soup with Spinach Pesto

A vitamin-rich soup gets even better with a dollop of fresh pesto.
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Course Soup

Ingredients
  

  • For the soup:
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1/2 red onion chopped
  • 1 cup green onion chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1.5 pounds carrots
  • 4 cups reduced sodium free range chicken broth check label for gluten-free if you need it (substitute vegetable broth to make this recipe vegetarian or vegan)
  • For the pesto:
  • 4 cups spinach
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts pine nuts are expensive, so feel free to subsitute with pecans or walnuts
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
  • 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Soup:
  • Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and 1/2 tsp. salt and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
  • Roughly chop carrots and add to pot. Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover (leave lid slightly ajar), and cook until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes.
  • Using an immersion blender, blend soup until pureed. Alternate method: ladle soup into a blender and puree.
  • Pesto:
  • Add spinach, garlic, pine nuts, and nutritional yeast to food processor. Pulse until blended. Scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula. With food processor on, stream 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil into bowl until pesto mixture is to desired consistency.
  • Serve carrot soup with a dollop of fresh pesto.