28/08/2024

Soupe au Pistou (French vegetable soup with basil)

Name: Soupe au Pistou (French vegetable soup with basil)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 1 - 2 cloves garlic ((skinned)); 1 large pinch salt; 3 large handfuls basil ((leaves only)); 2 - 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 2 tbs olive oil; 1 large onion (approx. 200g) (skinned, cut in half and sliced); 1 stalk celery ((finely chopped or sliced)); salt and black pepper; 3 cloves garlic ((skinned and finely chopped)); 150 g tomatoes ((skinned, de-seeded, diced)); 250 g potatoes, peeled or unpeeled ((diced)); 200 g broad beans ((fresh or frozen, weight after podding)); 300 g courgette ((diced with any large seeds removed, weight is before prep)); 240 g cooked cannellini or haricot beans ((approximately 1 standard tin, drained)); 750 - 1000 ml light stock; 50 g small dried pasta shapes ((or broken linguine/spaghetti)); finely grated cheese ((e.g. gruyere or Parmesan))

Soupe au Pistou is a simple vegetable, bean, and pasta soup from the south of France. Traditionally based on seasonal summer vegetables like courgette, beans, and tomatoes, the highlight is the punchy basil and garlic pistou from which the soup gets its name. A stripped-down version of Italian pesto, each diner can stir as much as they like into their own bowl.

Served with a scattering of cheese, it makes an easy but satisfying lunch or dinner.

Jump to Recipe

According to Elizabeth David in her renowned French Provincial Cooking (I’m including the image below because I love the cover: The White Duck by Jean Baptiste Oudry, a painting currently stolen and missing), Soupe au Pistou is ‘a famous Niçois soup of which there are many versions, the essential ingredient being the basil with which the soup is flavoured’.

If you’re thinking the word pistou sounds a lot like pesto, then you’re right. The familiar Italian sauce of basil, cheese and pine nuts was apparently borrowed by the Niçois from their Genoese neighbours who ‘adapted it to suit their own tastes, and called it, in the local dialect, pistou‘.

The big difference between the French and Italian sauces is that pistou doesn’t contain pine nuts. Also, like my own version, not all include cheese either. The pistou is stirred into the simple soup just before serving. Or you can put it in the middle of the table so everyone can add as much as they like to their own bowl.

The soup itself is very straightforward with the pistou giving it individuality. As David points out, the combination of vegetables that can be varied according to what’s available, plus beans and pasta, makes it a variation of Minestrone Soup.

Soupe au Pistou is typically made in later summer with fresh vegetables like beans (green, runner, or broad), squash such as courgette, and tomatoes. But you could include celery, potatoes, carrots, leeks, or peas.

MY SOUPE AU PISTOU

Because this soup is all about using the vegetables that are in season where you live, feel free to use my recipe as a template and swap in whatever you have. You’ll find full details and suggested ingredient amounts in the recipe card at the end.

My latest Moorland Veg Box delivery included some lovely organic broad beans, courgettes, baby plum tomatoes, onions, and potatoes. And they were just crying out to be made into Soupe au Pistou.

If it had included more of the green beans from a couple of weeks before (used in this Green Bean, Tomato & Potato Salad with Aioli) then I would really have hit the jackpot. But there was plenty of variety without them, so I just supplemented with frozen broad beans plus celery.

Traditionally, there would be fresh haricot beans too. But these days they’re likely to be dried or, for convenience, canned. My preference is a tin of cannellini beans which I think have a better flavour than haricot.

You’ll also need small dried pasta shapes or do as I do and break up some linguine or spaghetti.

HOW TO MAKE SOUPE AU PISTOU

Make the garlic-basil pistou

I start by making the pistou. If you have a pestle and mortar, use that. Otherwise, fashion a makeshift one with a sturdy bowl and the end of a rolling pin.

Depending on how garlicky you like it, put 1 or 2 peeled garlic cloves plus a small pinch of salt into the mortar or bowl. Pound until they’re a creamy paste, then gradually add about three handfuls of basil leaves, working them into the garlic. It’s up to you whether you pound until the leaves are very fine or leave the basil in larger pieces. I prefer the latter.

Now start stirring in extra virgin olive oil a little at a time. As you do, continue stirring the basil and garlic mixture. Carry on adding as much olive oil as you like to get your preferred consistency. You’ll use roughly 2 – 4 tablespoons, depending on whether you want it thicker or thinner. Give it a taste and add more salt if necessary, then transfer the pistou to a small serving bowl. Cover it and set aside until ready to serve the soup.

Make the soup

The base for Soupe au Pistou is made in the same way as virtually every other vegetable soup. Start by softening aromatics in oil. In my case that’s onion, celery, and more garlic. This is followed by skinned and deseeded tomatoes, cooked for just a few minutes until starting to break down.

Then the rest of the prepared vegetables (cut to approximately similar sizes) are added. The general rule is to add harder vegetables which need longer cooking early on and softer, quick-cooking or frozen ones later.

For the batch of soup shown in this post, that meant the potatoes went in next and were stirred around for a couple of minutes. They were followed by the fresh broad beans, then the courgette and drained cannellini beans. Once the vegetables have taken on some colour, the dried pasta can be stirred in.

Now you add some light stock. I prefer chicken but you could use vegetable. I start with approximately 750 ml of stock or enough to cover everything. You’ll have your own idea of how thick you want the soup, but you can always add more stock later if necessary.

Bring up to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables and pasta are done to your liking, stirring now and then to ensure nothing’s sticking to the bottom of the pot. If the soup seems too thick, stir in a little more stock or water. If you’re including any frozen vegetables, add them for the final 5 minutes or so.

Finally, taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Do bear in mind though the saltiness of your garlic-basil pistou and don’t oversalt at this stage.

SERVING SOUPE AU PISTOU

You could now stir the garlic and basil sauce into the pot of soup. But I think it’s much nicer to share the soup between bowls and put the pistou on the table for everyone to serve themselves. Some people will no doubt prefer more, others less.

I sometimes serve homemade bread alongside too. In some of the images in this post you can see lovely Multigrain Seeded Bread Rolls. A bread inspired by the flavours of this soup would also be fitting: Courgette, Cheese & Basil Quick Bread. But it’s not absolutely necessary because with all the vegetables, plus beans and pasta, this really is a whole meal in a bowl.

One thing I do like with it though is plenty of grated cheese. Parmesan is good, but I like gruyere better with Soupe au Pistou.

Leftovers will be fine in the fridge for a couple of days. Some pasta shapes will soak up a lot more of the stock so you may need to add a little water when reheating. However, I find this is less of an issue with linguine or spaghetti.

Whether you eat it as a satisfying lunch or easy dinner, I think this simple but lovely soup with seasonal vegetables and punchy basil and garlic sauce is a real treat.

Have you made this recipe? Let me know by leaving a comment and rating.