Eat Healthy and Cheap
Soupe au Pistou
Soupe au pistou is the Provençal answer to minestrone: a summer vegetable and white bean soup finished, not seasoned, with a garlicky basil paste stirred in bowl by bowl. The traditional pistou binds basil, garlic, and tomato with a generous pour of olive oil; this version replaces that oil with toasted walnuts and a ladle of the soup's own starchy broth, which emulsifies the same way and leaves the sauce clinging to a spoon instead of pooling on top. Keeping the pistou raw and off the heat until the last moment is what makes it taste like summer instead of like cooked basil.
Ingredients
- 1 piece Leeks, white and light green parts, halved lengthwise and sliced
- 1 Yellow onion, diced
- 2 Carrots, diced
- 2 stalks Celery, diced
- 5 cloves Garlic, divided
- 2 Potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch (1 cm) pieces
- 1 cup Canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 Bay leave
- 1 tsp no-salt vegetable bouillon
- 1 1/2 cups Green beans, trimmed, cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces
- 2 Zucchinis, diced
- 1 1/2 cups Cannellini beans, cooked, or one 15 oz can, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup Whole wheat short pasta
- 1 cup Basil, packed leaves, plus extra to garnish
- 1/4 cup Walnuts, toasted
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
Method
- Sweat the leek, onion, celery, and carrot in a large pot with 1/4 cup (60 ml) water over medium heat, stirring occasionally and adding a splash more water whenever the pot looks dry, until soft and starting to stick, about 10 minutes. This slow start in water instead of oil is the base the whole pot is built on.
- Stir in the crushed tomatoes, potatoes, 1 minced garlic clove, the bay leaf, and the no-salt bouillon. Cook for 2 minutes, until the tomatoes darken slightly and lose their raw smell, then add 7 cups (1.7 L) water. Bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer.
- Simmer for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are just tender when pierced with a knife.
- Add the green beans and zucchini. Simmer for 8 minutes, until the green beans are bright green and crisp-tender, not soft.
- Stir in the pasta and the cannellini beans. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes more, until the pasta is tender. The pot should look thick with vegetables, beans, and pasta by now, closer to a stew than a broth. That thickness is traditional, not a mistake.
- While the soup finishes, toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan often, until they smell nutty and darken slightly, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Pound or pulse the basil, the remaining 4 garlic cloves, and the toasted walnuts to a rough paste in a food processor or mortar and pestle.
- Ladle about 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the hot soup broth into the basil paste and blend or pound again until it loosens into a bright green, pourable sauce. That ladle of starchy broth, cloudy with dissolved potato and bean, does the job olive oil usually does in pistou: it binds the basil and walnut fat into a sauce that clings to a spoon instead of separating.
- Fish out the bay leaf and stir the black pepper into the soup. Ladle into bowls and pass the pistou at the table so everyone stirs their own in raw, off the heat. That is what keeps the basil tasting like basil instead of like something simmered for an hour.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 230 calories, 10 g protein, 8 g fiber. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt.
