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Soupe au pistou
Provençal bean and vegetable soup with basil and garlic pistou
Soupe au pistou is Provence's summer minestrone, eaten from July to September when basil grows thick in the gardens around Marseille and Avignon. Beans, courgettes, green beans, carrots, potato and small pasta simmer in a light broth, then each bowl gets a spoonful of pistou, a pounded paste of basil, garlic, olive oil and hard cheese with no pine nuts. Stirred in at the table, it turns the broth fragrant and green. It is a whole meal with bread. The traditional cheese is Parmesan or aged Gouda, so use a vegetarian hard cheese. Chef's tip: never boil the pistou; adding it to the pot is the common mistake that turns the basil dark and kills its smell.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the soup
For the pistou
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat and cook 1 onion and 1 leek for 6 minutes, until soft.
6 minStep 2: Add 2 carrots, 1 potato, 1.5 litres water, 2 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
15 minStep 3: Add 2 tomatoes, 2 courgettes, 5 ½ oz green beans and 14 oz cooked white or borlotti beans and simmer for 10 minutes, until the green beans are just tender.
10 minStep 4: Add 2 ⅞ oz small pasta (ditalini or broken spaghetti) and simmer for 8–10 minutes, until it is cooked. The soup should be thick with vegetables but still brothy.
9 minStep 5: Meanwhile make the pistou. Pound 3 cloves garlic with ¼ tsp salt in a mortar to a paste, then add 1 ⅜ oz basil leaves a handful at a time and pound until bright green. Stir in ¼ cup olive oil, then 1 ⅜ oz vegetarian hard cheese. (Or blitz briefly in a small blender.)
Step 6: Ladle the soup into bowls and let everyone stir in a spoonful of pistou at the table.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 300 kcal
- Protein
- 10 g
- Carbs
- 35 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 8 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does soupe au pistou take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of leek?
- 1 onion per leek.
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