For centuries, sage was considered a panacea. Taken as a tea, it calmed the nervous system and aided digestion. The fresh leaves could rubbed on a wound to disinfect it, or on teeth to whiten the smile and freshen the breath. To enhance its magical qualities, you will want to collect your sage wearing a flowing white tunic, no shoes (feet scrupulously clean), and avoid using any sort of iron instrument while harvesting - as did the Romans in their ritual gathering of this herb.

In the Middle Ages, sage was also prescribed as an aphrodisiac for men, while for women it increased fertility and safeguarded pregnancies. These medicinal properties were released by cooking the leaves in wine and adding the liquor to food. If nothing else, it tasted good.

In Italian sage is salvia and derives from the verb meaning ‘to save.’ It is also related to the Latin verb salvere, to be well, hence the common greeting, Salve! (be well!) suitable in both formal and informal contexts, and more elegant than ‘ciao.’

On to our recipe…

Unlike the tender leaves of basil or mint, rendering sage into a pesto form that is not overpowering or too dense requires some extra attention, but is well worth the effort. This bold sage pesto, my own invention, plays the protagonist on a canvas of velouté white bean soup, while a capricious centerpiece of candied carrots tries to steal the show. High drama in a bowl.

Cannellini soup with sage pesto and caramelized carrots

Ingredients:

(makes a whole lot)

[soup]

500g dried cannellini beans (ok, canned ones are fine - 3 cans drained)

1 large stalk celery finely chopped

1 med onion finely chopped

4 tbsp olive oil

salt to taste (don’t hold back)

[carrots]

300g carrots, julienned (not grated, they will turn to mush)

50g butter

1 tsp salt

40g sugar

[pesto]

30g fresh sage leaves

1 clove garlic

100g pine nuts

4 tbsp olive oil

40g butter

Instructions

Soak the beans overnight. Put in a pressure cooker and cover completely in water. Cook the beans until soft. It doesn’t matter if they are overcooked.

Meanwhile, prepare the carrots. Put the butter in a wide non-stick skillet with the sugar and salt over high heat until it foams. Add the carrots and toss.

As soon as they start to show a bit of color, lower the heat to med high and continue cooking and tossing making sure they don’t clump. They are done when they start to caramelize and get brown specks.

In a large pot, sauté the celery and onion in oil about 5 minutes until soft taking care that they don’t brown or it will distort the desired color of the soup.

Drain the beans reserving the liquid. Add them to the sautéed vegetables. Add back enough water to cover the beans and boil on medium heat for 20 minutes. Salt to taste.

Meanwhile, make the pesto. In whatever sort of machine you have to make pesto, process the sage, pine nuts, salt, garlic, and olive oil together until as smooth as possible. Heat the butter in a small frying pan until foaming and add the pesto. Cook stirring occasionally until cooked and the pungent raw taste has settled. Remove from heat.

Back to the beans: With an immersion blender, process the soup until completely smooth. Add water as needed but keep the very consistency thick.

Add 1/4 cup of the soup to the pesto and a bit of water so that it is a consistency that allows you to drip it from a spoon, about the same consistency of the soup.

Putting it together: ladle the soup into individual bowls. Spoon the pesto over the top in circles and drag a butter knife through so that it swirls into the soup but is still distinct.

Neatly arrange the carrots in the center trying to keep the threads separate as possible. If desired, top with fresh pepper.

All three parts can be prepared a couple days ahead and reheated before serving.

This can also be served as a cold dish in the summer.