Food

Soupe au Pistou (Provençal Vegetable Soup with Basil)

French · Soup · Vegetable · Vegetarian

Soupe au Pistou (Provençal Vegetable Soup with Basil)
Prep 30 minutes, plus overnight soaking
Cook 1½ hours
Serves 1 large pot
Level Easy

Provence’s summer soup of beans, zucchini, green beans, carrots and pasta, finished at the table with a pounded garlic, basil, tomato and Parmesan pistou.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is part of the collection’s French batch and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

Soup

  • 1 cup (200 g) dried beans (or 2 cups / 300 g drained canned beans)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, diced (or 3 leeks, sliced)
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
  • 2 medium carrots (6 ounces; 170 g), diced
  • 2 medium zucchini (1 pound; 450 g), diced
  • 8 ounces green beans, tipped and cut in quarters
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced or thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt, plus pepper to taste
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
  • 1 cup (100 g) small dried pasta (orzo, vermicelli, elbows or shells)

Pistou

  • 1 large garlic clove, peeled
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 2 cups (40 g) gently packed basil leaves
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
  • 1 small tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
  • 1½ ounces (45 g) Parmesan, grated

Directions

Key ingredients

Olive Oil · Salt

  1. Rinse, sort and soak the dried beans overnight in cold water.
  2. Drain, then cook with the bay leaves in about 1½ quarts (1.5 liters) water for about an hour, until tender, topping up as needed. Set aside in their liquid.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven and cook the onions or leeks until soft and translucent.
  4. Add the thyme, carrots, zucchini, green beans, garlic, salt and pepper, and cook until the vegetables are completely cooked.
  5. Add the beans and their liquid, the peas, the pasta and 2 quarts (2 liters) water. Bring to a boil, then simmer a few minutes until the pasta is done.
  6. For the pistou, pound the garlic to a paste with the salt, then pound in the chopped basil until fairly smooth. Drizzle in the oil while pounding, then pound in the tomato and cheese. Season.
  7. Serve the soup with the pistou to stir in at the table.

Notes

Source Adapted from David Lebovitz, “Soupe au Pistou,” davidlebovitz.com. The source prints no yield; it makes a large pot.

Two figures in the source that do not add up It gives the green beans as “8 oz (260g)” (8 ounces is about 227 g) and the peas as “1 cup (250g)”, which is heavier than a cup of peas weighs. The volumes are kept here.

Tradition The classic is said to be made with water, not stock; the tomato in the pistou is, the author admits, controversial.

The photo The photograph shows a bowl of soupe au pistou.