Soupe au Pistou (Provençal Vegetable Soup)
Provencal summer vegetable soup finished with a basil-garlic pounding.
Soupe au pistou is the Provençal summer vegetable soup: courgette, green beans, potato and white beans simmered in salted water, then finished with pistou — basil, garlic and a little cheese pounded with olive oil. The pistou is stirred in off the heat, never while the pot is boiling, or the basil loses its point.
Ingredients
- 2 courgettes
- 200g green beans
- 2 potatoes
- 400g white beans
- 1 onion
- Bunch of basil, 3 garlic cloves, olive oil
- Parmesan
Method
- 1
Simmer the diced vegetables and beans in 1.5L salted water for 30 minutes.
- 2
Pound basil, garlic and a little cheese with olive oil into a rough pistou.
- 3
Take the soup off the heat.
- 4
Stir the pistou in at the table, never while boiling.
- 5
Serve with bread and more cheese.
Uses whatever is cheap at market — the pistou does the flavour work.
The rest of the Provençal table
- Poulet Basquaise — The southern French main from the same peppers-and-tomato kitchen.
- Ribollita — The Tuscan bean soup built on the same idea.
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