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Soupe au pistou
I rarely eat hot soup during the summer months, but
I make an exception for soupe au pistou. It’s made
from lots of fresh summer vegetables, beans and a
little bit of pasta, so it’s light and delicious.

Pistou is a Provencal basil pesto made without the
nuts and cheese of Italian pesto. You place a dollop
of the pistou on top of the soup, and the garlicky
basil sauce just melts into the broth.

My vegetable soup recipe stands well on its own,
but the pistou takes the flavor to another level.

The key to adding any pasta or noodle to soup is
cooking it separately ahead of time and then adding
it to each bowl when serving. This keeps the soup
broth clear and the pasta from getting soggy. It
also allows for any leftovers to be rewarmed while
keeping the consistency of freshly-made soup.

I love simple, Mediterranean-style food year-round.

This healthy soup is as good as it gets.

To make this recipe vegan, replace the chicken
broth with vegetable broth.

¾ cup dry pasta, cooked separately according to
package. I suggest tiny soup
shells, ditalini or another very small-
sized pasta.

Vegan basil pistou
4 cups fresh basil, long stems removed, washed
and fully dried
5 cloves minced garlic
½ cup olive oil
⅛ teaspoon sea salt; add more
to taste
Vegetable soup
12 cups chicken or vegetable
broth. Store-bought is OK.

3-4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups diced onion
1 leek, white and light green
parts only, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
Soupe au pistou
2 large zucchini, cubed, about
3 cups
1 large summer squash, cubed, about
2 cups
2 large carrots, peeled and diced, about
2 cups
1 large potato, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, about 14 ounces
2 cans cannellini or white beans, rinsed
and drained
1 large bay leaf
2 cups fresh green beans, broken by hand into
small pieces
1 tablespoon sea salt; add more to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper
For the pistou
Wash and let the basil air dry a few hours before you
make the pistou. It’s really important that the leaves
are not wet.

Combine the basil, minced garlic, salt and olive oil
in a food processor and pulse until well blended.

Scoop the pistou into a small bowl and drizzle it
with olive oil to keep the color, using a rubber spatula
to get every last drop out of the food processor bowl.

If not using immediately, cover it with plastic wrap.

This keeps well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. If
you have any left over, it’s wonderful in omelets or
mixed into a salad.

For the soup
Basil pistou
You can use store-bought chicken broth or vegetable
broth if making this recipe vegan.

To make fresh chicken stock in a slow cooker
overnight: Put a small chicken, 1 tablespoon of
kosher salt, a few peppercorns, 3 stalks of celery
and half of an onion into the slow cooker and fill it
with about 14 cups of water. Let it cook on high for a
few hours before setting it to low to cook overnight.

Refrigerate the broth if you will use it within a few
days; otherwise, freeze it for later use.

I never make any soup by just throwing everything
into a pot and walking away. You can do that when
making stock, but the individual vegetables won’t
stand out if you don’t cook them for different
amounts of time.

In a large soup pot, warm the olive oil over medium
heat before adding the onions. Sauté for 10 minutes,
stirring occasionally.

Add the celery and leek, and sauté for another 5
minutes, then add the zucchini, yellow squash and
carrots. Give everything a good stir to distribute the
oil and reduce the heat slightly.

Stir occasionally for another 10 minutes.

Add the minced garlic, stirring constantly for 1
minute or until fragrant.

Add the can of diced tomatoes (with juices) and
the potato.

Add 12 cups of the broth of your choice and bring
it to a boil over high heat.

Add a bay leaf and the rinsed cannellini beans,
reduce the heat and simmer at a soft boil for 30
minutes. Do not cover.

Add the green beans (I usually tear these by hand)
and cook them for an additional 20 minutes. Adding
the green beans later keeps their texture firm. You
can also add a cup of peas or use peas instead of
green beans. Either way, add them last.

The vegetables release a lot of water, so check for
salt at this point and add a little olive oil if the broth
tastes weak.

Add fresh ground pepper.

When serving, add a tablespoon or two of the
cooked pasta — which makes a nice little addition to
the soup without overpowering it — and a spoonful
or two of pistou, and stir into the broth. Enjoy and
bless your hands! ■
Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

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Photo by Jessica Grann
By Jessica Grann