It’s more than time for olives to make their mark in soup

One of the most endearing things about my significant other is he always lets me have the last few French fries. More amazing is that he also shares his olives — right off his salad and even straight out of his martini.

It’s a gesture of generosity I appreciate every time. One that, I’m ashamed to say, I never reciprocate.

Given my irrational love of salty morsels, I am surprised I have never used olives in a soup. (I’ve never used French fries either, but that’s for another day.)

This recipe for Pesto Bean Soup can use any black olive, but I chose Kalamata olives, which have a rich, fruity, briny flavor and come from the Greek city of Kalamata. Use any broth when making this — vegetable or chicken — but be mindful of the salt content. The olives and the Parmesan cheese you add at the end are plenty salty.

The soup also calls for roasted red peppers and basil pesto, which gives the dish a distinctively Mediterranean flavor.

Use canned cannellini beans and premade pesto, and you have a soup that you can get on the table in a jiffy.

The olives are roughly chopped, and there’s plenty of them, so there’s no need to pillage anyone else’s share.

But that doesn’t mean I won’t try.

• M. Eileen Brown is the Daily Herald’s vice president of sales and marketing and an incurable soup-a-holic. She specializes in vegetarian soups and blogs at soupalooza.com/.

Pesto Bean Soup with Olives

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

Pinch of red pepper flakes

3 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup water

3 cups low-salt broth, vegetable or chicken

1 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted, drained and chopped

3 tablespoons basil pesto

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated

Ground black pepper, to taste

Set a large soup pot over medium-low heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the cannellini beans and water. Increase to medium heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until slightly thickened. Add the broth, celery, roasted red peppers and black olives. Simmer for 10 minutes, until celery is lightly tender and the soup is heated through. Stir in the pesto and Parmesan cheese. Adjust seasoning to taste with black pepper, then ladle soup into bowls and serve hot.

Serves 4

― M. Eileen Brown