Recipe: Autumn Vegetable Soup with Pesto

My mum loved this soup so much- she said this should be the next recipe competition winner! Lol! Maybe i'll enter it into one of New Covent Garden soup recipe competitions, i dunno. I always want more soups in winter, and this soup is packed full of all of the delicious root veg that reminds me of autumn. I think autumn is my favourite season- maybe because of Firework night on the 5th November, and my birthday on the 17th November. Not sure what i'm doing this year for my birthday- it's 21 so maybe i should do something big? Anyway, the pesto in this is optional of course, but i think it really adds the finishing touch to the dish.

Autumn Vegetable Soup with Pesto (makes 3 bowls)

30g butter
1 white onion, diced
1 large or 2 medium leeks, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 swede, peeled and diced
100ml red wine
1 litre vegetable stock
1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp readymade pesto
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Sautee the onion, leeks and garlic in the butter for 10 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the red wine and cook for a further 5 minutes, uncovered. Add all the other ingredients (except the pesto and olive oil) and cook on a high heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Blend half of the soup, and return to the pan. You may need to add more water/ vegetable stock at this stage if the soup has become too thick.
4. Season to taste and heat the soup up again until nice and hot. Mix together the extra virgin olive and pesto, and serve the soups with this “pesto oil” drizzled on top.