Slow cooker soupe au pistou

I've made other versions of this before. But they didn't have the magic word slow cooker in the title, which always draws me in. Make sure you use a large slow cooker. Perhaps they have a different idea of what constitutes a medium vegetable, but this came alarmingly close to the brim of the crock even before the beans and pasta were added.

Soupe au pistou (Provencal vegetable soup with pesto)

Adapted from “The French Slow Cooker” by Michele Scicolone

Ingredients

4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 medium onions, chopped

1½ cups petite diced canned tomatoes

1 medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again, then sliced crosswise into ¼-inch slices

1 medium summer squash, sliced in half lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again, then sliced crosswise into ¼-inch slices

8 cups water

Salt and pepper

2 cups cooked cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup ditalini or other small pasta such as elbows

Pesto

Method

In a large slow cooker, combine carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash. Stir to combine. Add 8 cups water and season with salt and pepper. Cook on low heat for 8 hours.

Add beans and ditalini and cook another half hour or until pasta is done. Adjust seasonings as needed.

Serve in bowls topped with a spoonful of pesto as desired.

Rating: The resulting veggie broth in this is pretty thin and borderline bland. Maybe a bouquet garni would have helped? But it still works fine once you add a generous dollop of good pesto and swirl it in a bit to the hot liquid: instant flavor and warmth. Making this soup on the stove is probably preferable so the broth can concentrate a bit, but it if it's the only way to have warm soup at the end of the day, it's not bad, and fairly filling. I'd say it serves 10 quite easily.