Saffron Vegetable Chowder with Coriander & Goat’s Cheese Pesto

A beautifully delicate vegetable chowder spiked with aromatic saffron and coriander. Saffron is now much more readily available, and imports from Spain and the Middle East continue to improve. It is an expensive spice but it has no substitute, especially in this chowder. Sachets of powdered saffron are cheaper than saffron strands but they cannot compete with them in flavour - always buy the real thing.