Bean Soup with Pistou

Name: Bean Soup with Pistou
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 125 g dried red haricot beans; 6 cloves of garlic, crushed, peeled and roughly chopped; 2 sticks of celery, finely chopped; freshly ground black pepper; a generous bunch of basil; 75 ml extra-virgin olive oil; 2 potatoes, diced; 1 courgette; 125 g dried white haricot beans; 1 carrot, diced; 1.5 litres vegetable or chicken stock; 4 tomatoes; 1 onion, diced; 1 tbsp olive oil; 125 g French green beans, trimmed; 4 artichoke hearts; l00 g vermicelli; sea salt; 1 leek, finely chopped

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
1 hr 20

Appears in

The French Kitchen

By Joanne Harris and Fran Warde

Published 2002

About

This is a light and evocative dish, filled with the tastes, colours and scents of approaching summer. It is extremely therapeutic to make, especially if you make the pistou by hand.

Ingredients

125 g dried red haricot beans
125 g dried white haricot beans
1

Europe
France
Soup
Mediterranean
Summer
Gluten-free
Vegan

Method

Soak the beans overnight in a saucepan of cold water. The next day, drain them, rinse well and return to the pan. Cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 hour. Skim off any froth that rises to the top during cooking. Drain and set aside.

Then make the pistou. You can make it by hand in a pestle and mortar, or use a small blender. Combine the garlic and basil leaves u