Preparation

• First, chop all of your vegetables into small cubes. You will want little bite sized pieces for this soup.
• Then, add the olive oil to your soup pot.
• Add the garlic and onions together and let sweat over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add in the peppers and eggplant as well as the herbes de Provence and fleur de sel. Sautée for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Make sure to let the eggplant cooks well - undercooked eggplant is not good.
• Now, add in the tomatoes, canned diced tomatoes, zucchini, yellow summer squash followed by 8 cups of water.
• Stir, then let the soup come to a simmer before covering halfway and bringing the heat down to medium low.
• Let the soup gently simmer for 1 hour - stirring every 10 minutes or so. Add an additional cup of water if you wish for the desired consistency. Your kitchen will smell incredible!
• To make the homemade pesto, add the pine nuts and garlic to a food processor. Pulse a few times until they are finely chopped.
• Add in the basil (make sure the basil leaves are dry!) as well as the parmesan and olive oil. Pulse a few times more until finely chopped and fully blended.