Soupe au Pistou (Provencal Vegetable and Basil Soup)

By late summer my garden is producing more zucchini and green beans than any one household should be responsible for, and soupe au pistou is the dish that saves me every year. It is the Provençal answer to what to do with a counter full of vegetables that are all ripe at once, and it has become a late-August fixture in my kitchen right alongside my ratatouille niçoise (recipe on the site).

This is essentially a hearty vegetable and white bean soup, built from whatever is in season, potatoes, carrots, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, and a handful of small pasta simmered right in the broth. What sets it apart is the finish: a spoonful of pistou, a Provençal paste of basil, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan, stirred in right before serving. It is essentially a cousin of Italian pesto, minus the pine nuts, and it turns a simple vegetable soup into something bright and fragrant enough to serve to company.

Like my salade niçoise and socca (recipes on the site), this is unfussy, market-driven cooking, the kind of dish that changes slightly every time depending on what looked good that week. Do not stress over the exact vegetable ratios; the pistou stirred in at the end is what ties everything together no matter what you put in the pot.

Soupe au Pistou Recipe

Prep time: 25 minutes · Cook time: 40 minutes · Total: 1 hour 5 minutes · Servings: 6 · Calories: ~310 per serving

Ingredients

• For the Soup:
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 leeks, white and light green parts, sliced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 8 oz green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 small zucchini, diced
• 2 large tomatoes, diced (or 1 cup canned diced tomatoes)
• 1 can (15 oz) cannellini or white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 3/4 cup small pasta, such as vermicelli pieces or ditalini
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• For the Pistou:
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and leeks and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook 3-4 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, until the potatoes and carrots are nearly tender.
4. Add the green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, and white beans. Simmer 10 more minutes.
5. Stir in the pasta and cook until al dente, about 8-10 minutes, adding a splash more stock or water if the soup gets too thick. Season with salt and pepper.
6. While the soup finishes, make the pistou: in a food processor, blend the basil, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan into a thick, fragrant paste. Season with a pinch of salt.
7. Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a generous spoonful of pistou, letting guests stir it in themselves at the table.

Recipe Notes

• This soup is naturally vegetarian if you use vegetable stock, and it is easy to make vegan by leaving the parmesan out of the pistou or using a vegan hard cheese substitute.
• Make the pistou fresh and add it right before serving rather than cooking it into the soup; the basil loses its bright color and flavor if it sits in hot liquid too long.
• The vegetable base freezes well without the pistou or pasta. Add fresh pasta and pistou after reheating for the best texture.
• Feel free to swap in whatever summer vegetables you have on hand, this is very much a use-what-you-have kind of soup.