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A weeknight soupe au pistou, the Provençal vegetable soup with zucchini, green beans, tomato, white beans and small pasta, finished off the heat with a fresh basil, garlic and Parmesan pistou (pesto). Serves 4 to 6, about 45 minutes.
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What Makes This Work
- Pound the pistou, or pulse it. Garlic and salt first in the mortar until smooth, then the basil in batches until it is a rough bright green paste and the kitchen smells sharply of both. Then the oil, the cheese and a couple of grinds of pepper. A food processor is fine if you pulse rather than run it and scrape down twice. Continuous blitzing heats the leaves and turns them olive drab within minutes.
- Stir it in off the heat. Take the pot off the burner and let it settle below a simmer before the pistou goes in. Basil in boiling liquid cooks, and cooked basil goes dull. Stirred into hot-but-not-simmering soup it goes from pale to fragrant and green in one turn of the spoon.
- Only two-thirds goes in the pot. The rest sits at the table in the mortar with a spoon, so every bowl gets a fresh raw hit on top of the one already stirred through.
Ingredient Highlights
- Basil. Genovese, the sweet broad-leafed kind. Two lightly packed cups, so if you grow it, cut whole stems from the top of several plants rather than stripping one. Pinch out flower spikes the moment they show or the leaves turn bitter. Never refrigerate it; below about 50°F the leaves blacken overnight. Stems in a glass of water on the counter keep most of a week.
- Zucchini or summer squash. Eight ounces is one medium zucchini, and this is the recipe for the ones you missed at 6 inches. Any summer squash works; Costata Romanesco holds its shape best in broth. Buying: firm, heavy for its size, taut skin. Big soft ones go to mush.
- Green or romano beans. Flat romano beans are traditional and hold up best to simmering, but green beans cut into 1-inch pieces are fine. Pick or buy them when the pod snaps cleanly and before the seeds inside bulge. Once they bulge, the pod is stringy.
- Tomato. One cup diced is one large or two medium, and a paste tomato gives more flesh and less water. It is there for acidity, not to make the soup red. Split or ugly garden tomatoes are perfect here, and a cup of canned crushed tomatoes is a fair swap.
- White beans. Cannellini. A 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed until the water runs clear, is about 1 1/2 cups.
Tips and Swaps
A few things that came up in testing.
- Salt the soup until it tastes seasoned but flat before the pistou goes in. That is the right stopping point.
- Stir the pistou in off the heat, below a simmer.
- If you use a food processor for the pistou, pulse and scrape down twice. Running it continuously heats the basil and it turns brown.
- On day two: the pistou fades in the fridge. Hold back a few spoonfuls in a jar under a film of olive oil and stir it into each reheated bowl fresh.
- Any summer squash for the zucchini. Wax beans or a mix for the green beans.
- Small shells, orzo, tubetti or broken spaghetti in place of ditalini.
Soupe au Pistou (Weeknight French Vegetable Soup with Basil Pesto)
| Prep: 15m | Cook: 30m | Total: 45m |
A weeknight soupe au pistou: Provençal vegetable soup with zucchini, green beans, white beans and small pasta like ditalini, finished off the heat with a fresh basil and Parmesan pesto.
Ingredients
For the soup
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup diced carrot (about 2 carrots)
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more to finish (use half as much if using Morton)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 8 ounces zucchini or summer squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 4 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup diced ripe tomato, or 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
- 6 cups water or light chicken broth (or combination of both, I use 2 cups chicken broth plus 4 cups water)
- 1 1/2 cups cooked white beans (cannellini or gigante, or one 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed)
- 1 cup dry ditalini or other small pasta such as acini de pepe
For the pistou
- 2 cups lightly packed basil leaves
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano, plus more for serving
- Freshly ground black pepper
For serving
- Crusty bread
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, salt and a few twists of black pepper and cook, stirring now and then, until the onion slumps and turns translucent, about 8 minutes.
- Add the zucchini, green beans and tomato and cook until the tomato loses its shape and looks like sauce clinging to the vegetables, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour in the water and broth combination, bring to a bare simmer, and cook until the carrot gives easily to a spoon pressed against the side of the pot, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the pistou (pesto). Pound the garlic and salt in a mortar until smooth, then add the basil in batches and work it to a rough, bright green paste that smells sharply of basil and garlic. Stir in the oil, the Parmigiano and a couple of grinds of black pepper. (Food processor: pulse rather than run, and scrape down twice, so the basil stays green.)
- Add the white beans and pasta and simmer until the pasta is just past al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. It keeps softening in the broth, so pull it a touch early. Taste and salt generously. It should taste seasoned and a little flat before the pistou goes in.
- Take the pot off the heat and let it settle a minute below a simmer, then stir in about two-thirds of the pistou. It should turn fragrant and green in one stir.
- Serve with the remaining pistou at the table, plus more Parmigiano, black pepper and crusty bread.
Notes
- Stir the pistou in off the heat. Basil in simmering liquid goes dull.
- Salt the soup hard before the pistou. Water-based soup needs more than you think.
- Leave the cheese out of the pistou and the soup is vegan.
- For the next day: he pistou fades in the fridge. Hold back a few spoonfuls in a jar under a film of olive oil and stir into each reheated bowl fresh.
- Leftover soup keeps 3 days refrigerated. The pasta will soften; add a splash of water when reheating.
FAQ
What is the difference between pistou and pesto?
Pistou is the Provençal version: basil, garlic, salt and olive oil, no pine nuts. Cheese is optional and I use it. Pesto is Ligurian and always has pine nuts and cheese.
Can I use chicken broth instead of water?
Yes, but a light one. Broth muddies the vegetables, so salt more carefully at the end.
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Can I make it ahead?
The soup, yes, up to 3 days. Keep the pistou separate under a film of olive oil and stir it in when you reheat.
Can I freeze it?
The soup freezes fine without the pasta and pistou. Add both fresh when reheating.
Is it vegan?
Yes if you leave the Parmigiano out of the pistou.
Can I make the pistou in a blender?
A food processor, pulsed, is better. A blender needs more oil to move and heats the basil.
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