Ingredients:
4 cups whole milk
3 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained ( or use fresh!)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 medium onions, chopped
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, cut in pieces
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic
12 ounces watercress, stems removed or 12 ounces basil or 12 ounces cilantro
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted or 1/2 cup pine nuts or 1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, eyeball it
2 cloves cracked garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground or grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
Heat the milk over moderate heat in a medium pot.
Put tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, salt and pepper, sugar, flour, butter, and celery into a food processor and grind until smooth.
Pour mixture into milk and raise heat to bring soup to a boil.
Reduce heat and then simmer 15 minutes.
While soup cooks, make pesto, if not using storebought.
Fill the food processor with watercress, loosely packed.
Add hazelnuts, 1/2 of the oil and garlic cloves to the watercress in the processor.
Add nutmeg, salt and pepper to the processor bowl, set lid in place and pulse grind the mixture into a thick paste.
Add any remaining watercress to the processor and grind into the paste by pulsing the processor again.
Transfer watercress paste to a bowl.
Stir in the remaining oil and the cheese.
Taste pesto sauce and adjust seasonings.
Pour soup into shallow bowls and add a couple of rounded spoonfuls of pesto to each dish and stir it into the soup.
Servings: 4
Time preparation: 15 min.
Time total: 35 min.