Vegetable Soup with Maple Water and Maple Butter Pesto

Maple Water Soup

• 2 ladles white kidney beans
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon maple sugar
• Water (to cover beans)
• Salt
• 4 cups pure maple water NAPSI
• 2 carrots of different colours, peeled
• 1 rib celery
• 1 small bulb fennel
• 2 shallots
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• Fleur de sel
• 1 artichoke, cleaned
• 12 snow peas
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 zucchini
• 12 green beans
• 12 wax beans
• Maple pepper
• 1 cup white wine

Maple Butter Pesto

• 2 bunches basil
• 5 garlic cloves (or to taste)
• 2 cherry tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons maple butter
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup parmesan, finely grated
• Olive oil
• Fleur de sel
• Celery leaves (for garnish)

Maple Water Soup

1. In a large bowl, combine the white kidney beans, onion and maple sugar, cover with water and let soak overnight.
2. The next morning, rinse the beans and set aside, reserving the cooking liquid.
3. In a large pot, warm the maple water over low heat and cook the beans until tender, adding salt at the end of cooking. Set aside.
4. Cut all the vegetables on the bias (except the cherry tomatoes, which are already cut) into same-sized pieces.
5. In a cast iron casserole, sweat the vegetables in olive oil. Add them one at a time based on their cooking time: carrots, celery, fennel, shallots, garlic. Season with fleur de sel and continue, adding: artichokes, snow peas, tomatoes, zucchini, then #wax and green beans.
6. When the vegetables are ready, add the white beans and season with maple pepper. Add the white wine and mix well.
7. Add 3 ladles of maple water and 3 ladles of the cooking water from the beans. Simmer gently for 15-20 minutes.

Maple Butter Pesto

1. In a pot of boiling water, blanch half the basil for 15 seconds. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, combine the other half of the basil, garlic, cherry tomatoes, maple butter, pine nuts and parmesan.
3. Add the blanched basil and purée, adding olive oil a little at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Season with fleur de sel.