Soups & stews
Soupe au pistou
There are literally hundreds of recipes for this soup and its Italian counterpart, minestrone. The bare essentials are haricot beans, onion, celery, and tomato; beyond these you can use pretty much any soup-friendly vegetable you like. The pistou sauce is a lovely addition. Italian pesto is essentially the same sauce, and if you want to cut corners use some good from a jar. This soup reheats well.
Ingredients
main
- 100g dried haricot beans, soaked in cold water overnight, then cooked (use tinned beans if pressed for time)
- olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, finely sliced
- 1 or 2 leeks, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 100g potatoes, diced
- a few carrots or a turnip, diced
- 2 courgettes, diced (optional)
- 100g runner or French beans, sliced
for the pistou
- bunch fresh basil
- handful pine nuts (optional)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a little salt
- 100g Parmesan, freshly grated
- 150ml olive oil
- salt and pepper
Method
main
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Step 1
if you are cooking the beans yourself, first soak them overnight - half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in the water will help soften the skins.
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Step 2
Simmer, covered with unsalted water, for 30 minutes-1 hour, or until just tender, removing the scum from the surface occasionally.
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Step 3
You can add a garlic bulb cut in half to the cooking water if you like. Add a little salt at the end and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
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Step 4
To make the soup, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan, add the onion, celery and leeks and cook slowly for about 15 minutes, until soft but not coloured.
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Step 5
Add the sliced garlic and cook briefly. Stir in the tomatoes, turn up the heat and add the potatoes, carrot and turnips.
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Step 6
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes.
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Step 7
Add the courgettes and beans, plus enough water just to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
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Step 8
Add the cooked haricot beans with enough of their cooking liquor to give a soupy consistency. Season to taste.
Make the pistou
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Step 1
Whiz all the ingredients together in a food processor, then stir into the soup.