Mastering the Art of Julia Child take 1

I realize that I've been a little absent lately, but with all of the packing, etc. I really haven't had time to cook a lot. It's been a really busy week -- after spending the weekend with my mom (and the last time I'll be within driving distance of home for a good while) the bf and I got back and immediately needed to start cleaning in anticipation of our families arriving this weekend for graduation. Yes folks, the bf and I graduate from law school on Monday! We move to Chicago next Friday!

Long story short, I haven't had time to post as much this week. But I have cooked! Last night I made my first recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I made her vegetable soup (there is a more fancy French name for it but I don't feel like getting up to get the cookbook so that I can spell it). Of course I altered the recipe a bit to make it my own, but I am going to take some advice from Julia Child in how I set up my recipe so that this one is a little bit easier to follow.

Vegetable Soup compliments of Julia Child

Part One:
2 baking potatoes peeled and chopped into small pieces
2 carrots chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
1 onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon each: butter and olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven add all of the vegetables and the olive oil. Begin to heat over med. low heat. Add 3 glasses of water (enough to cover the veggies). Raise heat to medium. Bring to a boil and cook for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Part Two:
1 zucchini
1/2 small bag frozen green beans
1 can white beans (drained and rinsed)
1 pinch saffron
1 slice stale bread
1/8 box spaghetti noodles
1 teaspoon of each: salt, pepper, Emeril's Essence
1 handful fresh parsley finely chopped

To the pot of boiling vegetables (and now vegetable stock) add the zucchini, green beans, white beans, saffron and spices (except the parsley). Give it a good stir and tear the bread into the soup (this will help thicken the soup). Now add the spaghetti noodles, breaking them into fourths before you add them to the pot. Stir and add the parsley. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium low and allow the soup to cook for another 20 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

Step Three:
1 can tomato paste
several leaves of fresh basil
1 handful fresh parsley
1/2 cup parmesean cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
dash of dried oregano

As the soup cooks make this French style pesto(I'm not going to bother with the technical name). In a food processor add all of the ingredients except the olive oil. Stream in the olive oil to make a pesto like sauce.

Step Four (how to serve):
Pour the soup into bowls and top with a good spoonful of the pesto mixture.

A word of note, saffron is a very expensive spice -- a small jar at my local supermarket was $18, yikes! I honestly did not really taste the saffron in this dish, but it is an essential part of this type of vegetable soup. You could omit the saffron and just make up for it with other spices, but it make change how the soup was intended to taste.

Enjoy!