Name: Soupe au Pistou (Bean and Vegetable Soup with Pistou)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped; 2–3 cloves garlic; 8 ounces green beans, cut in short lengths the green part of a leek, finely sliced; freshly grated Parmesan or Gruyère cheese; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 2 ounces fine vermicelli; a handful of basil leaves; 2 medium potatoes, diced; ½ cup fresh white haricot beans, or soaked and cooked haricot or navy beans; salt; freshly ground pepper; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 3–4 tablespoons olive oil; 1 stick celery, chopped

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Recipes from a French Herb Garden

By Geraldene Holt

Published 1999

About

This is a beautiful, classic soup from the Mediterranean area of Provence. Fresh white haricot beans are available in France in late July and August. During the rest of the year, dried beans are used. Pistou sauce, made with fresh basil, garlic and olive oil, makes a fine last-minute addition to many summer vegetable soups.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
½ cup

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and soften the onion. Add the haricot or navy beans, potatoes and celery with 8–10 cups of water and some salt and pepper. Simmer, covered, for 10–15 minutes.

Add the green beans, the leek, tomatoes, and vermicelli and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pound the peeled cloves of garlic in a mortar or chop finely in a processor with the ba