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Soup au pistou

September 19, 2015 (Last Updated: January 11, 2019)

TO DRINK: A lightly wooded Chardonnay will stand up to the richness of the beans

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Soup au pistou

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 1 hr 25 mins

Ingredients

100g dried white beans (cannellini or haricot), soaked overnight
45ml (3 tbsp) olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 bouquet garni of bay leaves, thyme and parsley stalks
1 onion, chopped
2L water + 1L extra
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 leek, washed and finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
150g green beans, topped, tailed and chopped
5 baby marrows, chopped
PISTOU
50g fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 ripe tomato, skinned and chopped
100g Parmesan, grated
60ml (¼ cup) olive oil

Instructions

Drain the beans and heat half of the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic, bouquet garni and onion and gently fry for 5 minutes until lightly golden.

Add the drained beans and 2L of water. Bring to the boil, cover and leave to simmer for 45 minutes or until tender. Season and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a medium saucepan. Add the leek and carrots and gently fry for 5 minutes until soft. Remove the bouquet garni from the beans and cooking liquid and add to the saucepan. Add the tomatoes, potatoes and another 1L of water. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, bring to the boil then simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the green beans and baby marrows and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

For the pistou, blend the basil and garlic together in a food processor. Add the tomato and cheese and, with the motor running, gradually add the olive oil.

Serve the soup hot with a dollop of pistou.