Smoky Minestrone Soup with Tortellini and Pesto

I made a big batch of Minestrone soup when Jenna came over for dinner this week.  Very happy is was such a big batch, because I've been enjoying it all week fighting a awful cold!
I used the recipe from Food 52, almost verbatim, though I omitted the celery (thought I had some but didn't) and would sub out the kale for spinach next time. This is my second time trying to cook with kale, and I really just don't care for it that much.  If you do sub spinach, do it at the very end since spinach cooks so quickly!
Here's what you're working towards:

Here's what I used:

3 TB olive oil

2 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces

1 large onion, diced

2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 leeks, thinly chopped (Trader Joes sells ones that are already trimmed!)

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 ribs of celery, chopped (I accidentally omitted)

1 Zucchini, diced

1 potato, or I used one small bag of mini potatoes from Trader Joes

2 cans of low sodium chicken stock

1 can of cooked chickpeas

1 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes, with juice

1 cup kale, chopped fine, although next time I will use spinach

1 14 oz package of cheese tortellini

I topped it with some pesto that I made with fresh basil (basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil in a food processor) but if you can use store-bought pesto, or omit entirely.  If you omit, I would add some chopped basil in the soup for extra flavor. 

Get a large pot (I used my 3.5qt Le Creuset that my dear friends the Hausers gave me!) going with 1 TB olive oil and fry up the chopped bacon. 

Once that is good and cooked, add 2TB of olive oil and add the onion, garlic, and chopped leeks. Cook for a few minutes until they are cooked through and then add the carrot, celery, zucchini, and potatoes. Stir those for a minute or two. 

Add the chicken stock, scraping the bacon bits up from the bottom of the pot.  Then add the chickpeas and add the tomatoes one at a time by crushing them in your hands.  Make sure to add the juice from the can as well. 

Bring the soup to a boil, and then turn it to low and let it simmer for 30 mins or until the potatoes are done.  It will depend on how big the potatoes are as to when they are done. It may take 40 min. 

Add the kale and the tortellini and cook for another 5-7 min. Taste and salt if necessary.  I did not need to add any additional salt. 

Serve in a big bowl, topped with the pesto.  You could also grate some Parmesan cheese on top to serve. 

 It was delicious! It was a lot of vegetables to buy, but I was able to eat the leftovers all week.  It made at least 7-8 servings. 

Enjoy!