Pasta Soup with Pesto

(from Loukie Werle's Italian Country Cooking)

I love re-discovering a favorite thing, and this recipe gave me two: this amazing cookbook, and pesto. It's not that I'd forgotten about those things, it's just that I haven't used the cookbook in awhile, and I don't get that much fresh basil in the winter. Pesto always reminds me of summer. Plus - combining pesto and pancetta? Brilliant! Maybe I could just add pancetta to regular pesto...

Anyway, this puts it in a soup, plus a little tomato - and that's it! Simple and delicious.

3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped pancetta
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 lb pasta (I used broken-up spaghetti rigati, but a more spoon-friendly pasta may be preferable)

For pesto:
1 1/2 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

First make the pesto. Combine the basil and garlic in a food processor with 1 1/2 tbsp of the olive oil. Pulse, adding the rest of the olive oil intermittently. Spoon into a bowl with the parmesan cheese and combine.

For the soup, add the oil, pancetta, and garlic in a pot and sautee until the pancetta renders its fat. Don't burn the garlic. Stir in the tomato, let flavors combine for a minute, then add six cups of water and bring to a boil.

Stir in the pasta and a little salt, and cook the pasta. Remove from heat and stir in the pesto, then serve!