Ina Garten's Pesto Tip Makes Minestrone Soup Better In Every Way

Herby, cheesy, garlicky, and nutty all at once, pesto is pretty much the best thing ever and tastes great on just about anything. We tend to lather pesto on top of bread or use it as a sandwich condiment, mix it into pasta, or use it to top off meat or veggies for some extra flavor. But there's something you may never have thought to add your favorite pesto to: soup. As usual, Ina Garten is way ahead of us.

Back in 2012, the Barefoot Contessa included a recipe for a Winter Minestrone Soup in her cookbook called "Foolproof." The soup recipe calls for two tablespoons of store-bought pesto, which is a bit of a jump scare because most recipes require you to pick herbs right out of the garden for the best flavor. But if it's good enough for Ina, it's good enough for us, so to the store we go. 

When Ina Garten lists an ingredient in a recipe, you can be sure it's there for a reason. So what might seem like an optional add-in shouldn't be overlooked, because it often plays its own specific role in enhancing the whole dish. That's what two tablespoons of pesto does in Garten's minestrone soup.

As the very last ingredient to be added to the soup once it's cooked and nearly ready to serve, the pesto is there to bring it to the finish line with an extra punch. It not only brightens the soup's flavor with its herbiness and complements other ingredients like butternut squash and cannellini beans, but it also enhances the soup's overall texture — giving it a richer, almost creamier consistency at the last second.

You'll find many soup recipes that include pesto, whether it's a star ingredient or a small addition that helps provide a boost of flavor and complexity. Since its flavors of basil, nuts, garlic, and Parmesan go well with so many different foods, it's just a matter of dropping some pesto into your next recipe and seeing what it can do.

While homemade pesto is tasty and fresh (and never really a bad idea), Garten specifies store-bought pesto in her recipe for minestrone soup. She's notorious for believing that certain ingredients are just as good when they're store-bought, often noting it in recipes and telling her viewers time and again on her cooking shows that "store-bought is fine."

Why? Because there are some things worth buying that save time and effort, taste great, and do the job they need to do. As long as the product is good quality, certain store-bought items will work great, especially in recipes where you only need a small amount.

Since pesto has so few ingredients — basil, olive oil, parmesan, garlic, pine nuts — it's usually a little easier to find good-quality products at the store. You just need to do your homework and check the labels: if you see any extra ingredients or especially any preservatives, stay away. And make sure the ingredient list specifies olive oil (rather than something else canola or soybean). Look out for added salt and higher sodium levels as well. As long as you know which pesto is good quality, "store-bought is fine" for this delicious winter soup.