Name: Quick soupe au pistou
Yield: Serves 6-8
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil; 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice; ½ teaspoon dried rosemary; ground black pepper; 2 x 400 g cans of beans, such as white or green flageolet, borlotti or haricot, rinsed and drained; 1 medium leek, halved and sliced into 1cm rounds; 4 medium carrots, medium diced; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 3 teaspoons flaked sea salt; 20 large leaves of fresh basil; 200 g green beans, topped (not tailed) and chopped small; a good loaf of sourdough, to serve; 1.2 litres water; 6 tablespoons olive oil; 2 good fistfuls of chard, chopped into ribbons, stalk and all; 3 fat cloves of really good garlic (no green shoots); 400 g waxy potatoes, peeled and medium cubed; 3 courgettes, medium diced; 100 g frozen peas; 2 ripe beef tomatoes, skinned and coarsely chopped; 1½ teaspoons flaked sea salt; 2 bay leaves; 2 fat cloves of really good garlic (no green shoots), finely sliced; ½ teaspoon dried thyme

Preparation info

Serves
6-8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

What to Eat Next

By Valentine Warner

Published 2014

About

I first ate this soup as a boy with my parents and their friends in a restaurant in the south of France. It arrived in a huge bowl, with the pistou spooned all over the top. There was enough for three servings each. Typical of any meal involving Warners, the serving bowl was emptied. Then came another huge copper pan of quails cooked with cognac and garlic. I remember the whole meal and, bizarrely, have a vivid picture in my mind of the state of my napkin at the end of it.

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