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.