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Soupe au Pistou

5.0(361)

Perhaps Provence’s answer to minestrone, this seasonal vegetable soup — enriched with a simplified basil pesto (no pine nuts) — was inspired by the white beans, canned tomatoes and soup pasta languishing in my pantry, as well as the basil in my garden and the early summer vegetables at the local farmers’ market. The ingredient list is long, but the labor involved in making this soup is minimal. It tastes best if you make it through step 2 a day ahead.

by Martha Rose Shulman

Open original recipe

FrenchDinner, Editors' Pick, Main Course

Servings

Serves: Six to eight

Total time

2h 30m

Calories / serving

413 kcal

Ingredients (24)

serves

1 1/2 cups white beans, soaked for six hours in 6 cups water and drainedwhite-beans
2 quarts waterwater
1 large onion, choppedonion
4 large garlic cloves, minced or pressedgarlic
A bouquet garni made with a few sprigs each thyme and parsley, a Parmesan rind and a bay leafparsley
Salt to tastesalt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oilextra-virgin-olive-oil
2 leeks, white and light green part only, cleaned and slicedleek
1 pound tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, or 1 14-ounce can, with liquidtomato
2 cups shredded savoy or green cabbagecabbage
2 large carrots, dicedcarrot
2 celery stalks, dicedcelery
1 medium-size zucchini, scrubbed and dicedzucchini
2 medium-size turnips, peeled and dicedturnip
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and broken into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups), blanched for five minutes and set asidegreen-beans
1/2 cup soup pasta, such as macaroni or small shellssoup-pasta
Freshly ground pepperpepper
2 large garlic cloves, halved, green shoots removedgarlic
Salt to tastesalt
2 cups, tightly packed, fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oilextra-virgin-olive-oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesanparmesan
Freshly ground pepperpepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan for sprinklingparmesan

Instructions (5 steps)

01Drain the white beans and combine with 2 quarts water in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Skim off any foam, then add half the onion, half the garlic and the bouquet garni. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add salt to taste.
02Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet, and add the remaining chopped onion and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add the leeks and remaining garlic. Stir together for a few minutes, and add the tomatoes. Cook, stirring, until the tomatoes have cooked down slightly and the mixture is fragrant, five to 10 minutes. Stir this mixture into the soup pot, add all of the remaining vegetables except the green beans, and bring back to a simmer. Cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes to an hour. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
03While the soup is simmering, blanch the green beans for five minutes in salted boiling water. Transfer to a bowl of ice-cold water. Drain and set aside.
04To make the pistou, mash the garlic with a generous pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle. Remove it and set aside. Grind the basil to a paste in the mortar, a handful at a time, then add the garlic back in and mix together well. Work in the olive oil a tablespoon at a time, then stir in the cheese.
05Add the pasta to the simmering soup about 10 minutes before serving, and cook until cooked al dente. Add pepper, taste and adjust salt. Stir the blanched green beans into the soup and heat through. Serve, adding a spoonful of pesto to each bowl for guests to stir in. Pass additional Parmesan for sprinkling.