Pistou Soup French Food At Home

SOUPE AU PISTOU (FRENCH SUMMER VEGETABLE SOUP)

Steps:

• Soaking the Navy Beans (skip if using canned beans): Rinse and sort the beans. Soak the beans overnight covered in cold water. The next morning, drain the beans, rinse, and use as directed below.
• Quick-Soak Method: Rinse and sort the beans. Transfer to a saucepan and cover with 2 inches (5 cm) water. Bring to a boil, and keep boiling for 1 minute. Turn the heat off, cover the saucepan, and let rest for 1 hour. Drain the beans, rinse, and use as directed below.
• Cooking the Navy Beans: Transfer the soaked beans in a large saucepan. Add the bay leaves and add enough water to cover the beans with about 2 inches (5 cm) of water.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside while you prepare the soup.
• Make the Soupe au Pistou: In a Dutch oven or large stockpot, heat the olive oil. Add the onions or leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent.
• Add the thyme, diced carrots, zucchini, green beans, garlic, and salt. Season with pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften. Add the vegetable stock and stir to combine. If using dried beans, add the cooked beans and their liquid. If using canned beans, add the drained and rinsed beans now. Next, add the peas and pasta or your choice. Bring the soup to a boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked.
• Make the Pistou: In a food processor, pulse the garlic with a generous pinch of salt until it is finely chopped. Add the basil, tomato, and parmesan cheese, and pulse again until the mixture is relatively smooth. Add the olive oil to blend everything together and emulsify the pistou. Taste, and season with more salt if desired.
• SERVING: Ladle hot soup into bowls and add a generous spoonful of pistou to each serving. Keep extra pistou within reach because you'll likely want to add more to the soup as you go.
• MAKE IT DAIRY-FREE & VEGAN: Make sure to use vegetable stock and replace the parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast, or omit it completely.
• MAKE IT GLUTEN-FREE: Make sure to use a gluten-free variety of short pasta.

SOUPE AU PISTOU

Steps:

• Drain 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.
• Heat 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.
• While 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.
• To 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.
• Add 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.

SUMMER PISTOU

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the leeks and courgette for 5 mins to soften. Pour in the stock, add three-quarters of the haricot beans with the green beans, half the tomatoes, and simmer for 5-8 mins until the vegetables are tender.
• Meanwhile, blitz the remaining beans and tomatoes, the garlic and basil in a food processor (or in a bowl with a stick blender) until smooth, then stir in the Parmesan. Stir the sauce into the soup, cook for 1 min, then ladle half into bowls or pour into a flask for a packed lunch. Chill the remainder. Will keep for a couple of days.

SOUPE AU PISTOU

Steps:

• For the stock:
• In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over medium heat; stir in ingredients. Cover. Cook until vegetables are soft, about 30minutes. Add 8 cups water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat; simmer for 45 minutes. Strain, reserving broth and half the vegetables. Skim fat. Discard thyme and bay leaf. Puree reserved vegetables in a blender. Stir into stock.
• For the soup:
• Heat oil in the same pot. Sauté onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and herbs. Add reserved broth, tomatoes and beans. Bring to a boil. Lower heat; simmer 30 to 45 minutes. Ladle into bowls; drizzle with pesto or oil.

FRENCH SOUPE AU PISTOU

Steps:

• In a heavy pot (about 8-quart size), combine green beans, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and stock.
• Bring to a boil, then simmer until beans and potatoes are crisp tender.
• Add the cooked white beans with their cooking water (or liquid from cans) and vermicelli, and simmer until the vermicelli is just tender.
• Combine the basil, cheese, oil and garlic in a blender or processor, and puree.
• Stir this paste into the soup, bit by bit.
• Adjust seasoning if necessary.
• After the sauce has been added, the soup may be warmed, but not boiled.
• Serve with hot or toasted slices of French bread.
• To freeze: Prepare soup up to the point of adding pesto. Cool. Place in a rigid freezer container. Seal. Place pesto in a freezer bag. Seal. Attach to the top of the freezer container with tape. Label and freeze.
• To serve: Thaw in fridge. Reheat soup on stovetop until boiling. Turn down heat and add pesto to taste. Enjoy.
• For Vegetarian use vegetable broth and a vegetarian parmesan cheese.

PISTOU SOUP

Steps:

• Bring the vegetable broth and water to a boil in a large pot. Stir in the green beans, zucchini, carrots, and potatoes. Return to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the pistou by processing the basil leaves, garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, and salt together in a food processor until finely chopped; set aside.
• Stir the kidney beans, white beans, canned diced tomatoes, and spaghetti into the soup and return to a simmer. Cook until the spaghetti is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the pistou. Sprinkle with Gruyere cheese and Parmesan cheese to serve.