Got those change-of-seasons blues?
This Soup Au Pistou is just the right soup to blast you right out of those doldrums.
It hits all those fall color vibes, too. Look at those orangey colors! Not visible in this photo is the dollop of basil pistou stirred into the soup at the time of serving. Mervilleux!
You’re probably asking yourself “What in the heck is pistou?” though. Is that just a misspelling for pesto? The answer? Kind of.
Pistou is a cold basil sauce original to the Provenςal region of southeastern France. The sauce originated in the 16th Century. It is the French cousin of pesto and is a side of the family that doesn’t include pine nuts. To carry this analogy a little farther, this Soup Au Pistou is the French cousin of Italian minestrone.
This is a Melissa Clark recipe from her cookbook Dinner In French. It is a great cookbook to have in your personal library and is available through your local bookstore or on Amazon here..
Vegetable Soup Au Pistou
Ingredients
- For the soup:
- 1/4 C. extra-virgin olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 2 medium carrots (small dice)
- 2 large celery stalks (sliced)
- 1 large onion (coarsely-chopped)
- 2 t. sea salt
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4 sprigs fresh parsley
- 8 oz. green beans (I used a mixture of green beans and wax beans)
- 1 medium zucchini (diced)
- 1 15-oz. can small white beans (I used freshly-cooked Rancho Gordo Marcella beans)
- 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
- 4 C. vegetable broth
- 1/2 C. orzo pasta
- Chopped fresh parsley or cilantro for garnish
- For the Pistou:
- 2 C. fresh basil leaves (trimmed of tough parts of stems)
- 1/2 C. extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1/4 t. sea salt (or to taste--I used more)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Handful grape tomatoes (chopped)
- 1/2 C. Parmesan cheese (grated)
Directions
- Step 1 Prepare vegetables.
- Step 2 Saute chopped onion, garlic, carrots, celery and 1/2 t. salt in olive oil until soft. This should take about 5 minutes.
- Step 3 Combine thyme sprigs and parsley sprigs and tie with a string. Add to the onion mixture.
- Step 4 Stir in beans, zucchini, 1/2 t. salt and cook until vegetables are tender. Add white beans and stir to combine. Add tomatoes and their juices along with 4 C. broth (or more if you want a more liquid soup). Bring the soup to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and continue to simmer for about 10-15 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.
- Step 5 I cooked the orzo in vegetable broth in a separate pan and then added it to the soup at the end. I kept the orzo separate so that it would not absorb all the liquid in the soup when stored in the refrigerator.
- Step 6 Prepare the pistou by blending the basil, oil, garlic, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Then, add the tomato and Parmesan and continue until you have a rough paste. Adjust salt.
- Step 7 Serve soup with a spoonful of pistou stirred in and with a generous sprinkling of Parmesan on top. Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro.
