Jono & Jules do food & wine

This is a good soup for the dark nights. The parsley pesto will keep in the fridge for up to a month (put in a sterilised jar and cover with some olive oil) and makes a great pasta sauce.

Potato Soup with Parsley Pesto – to serve 6

• 50g butter
• 900g potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion, diced
• 850ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 225ml milk (or half milk and half cream if you have it)

For the parsley pesto: 

• small bunch of parsley, leaves chopped
• 25g freshly grated Parmesan
• 25g pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the potatoes and onion, toss until well coated and season. Cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Pour in the stock and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 15-20 minutes.

Put all of the pesto ingredients in a food processor and whizz until evenly chopped and smooth. Add the oil and a pinch of salt.

Liquidise the soup until smooth, then add the milk. Adjust the seasoning and serve with some parsley pesto drizzled over the top.

(Original recipe by Rachel Allen in BBC Good Food Magazine, October, 2006.)