Summer Pistou Recipes

SOUPE AU PISTOU (FRENCH SUMMER VEGETABLE SOUP)

Steps:

• Soaking the Navy Beans (skip if using canned beans): Rinse and sort the beans. Soak the beans overnight covered in cold water. The next morning, drain the beans, rinse, and use as directed below.
• Quick-Soak Method: Rinse and sort the beans. Transfer to a saucepan and cover with 2 inches (5 cm) water. Bring to a boil, and keep boiling for 1 minute. Turn the heat off, cover the saucepan, and let rest for 1 hour. Drain the beans, rinse, and use as directed below.
• Cooking the Navy Beans: Transfer the soaked beans in a large saucepan. Add the bay leaves and add enough water to cover the beans with about 2 inches (5 cm) of water.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside while you prepare the soup.
• Make the Soupe au Pistou: In a Dutch oven or large stockpot, heat the olive oil. Add the onions or leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent.
• Add the thyme, diced carrots, zucchini, green beans, garlic, and salt. Season with pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften. Add the vegetable stock and stir to combine. If using dried beans, add the cooked beans and their liquid. If using canned beans, add the drained and rinsed beans now. Next, add the peas and pasta or your choice. Bring the soup to a boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked.
• Make the Pistou: In a food processor, pulse the garlic with a generous pinch of salt until it is finely chopped. Add the basil, tomato, and parmesan cheese, and pulse again until the mixture is relatively smooth. Add the olive oil to blend everything together and emulsify the pistou. Taste, and season with more salt if desired.
• SERVING: Ladle hot soup into bowls and add a generous spoonful of pistou to each serving. Keep extra pistou within reach because you'll likely want to add more to the soup as you go.
• MAKE IT DAIRY-FREE & VEGAN: Make sure to use vegetable stock and replace the parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast, or omit it completely.
• MAKE IT GLUTEN-FREE: Make sure to use a gluten-free variety of short pasta.

SUMMER PISTOU

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the leeks and courgette for 5 mins to soften. Pour in the stock, add three-quarters of the haricot beans with the green beans, half the tomatoes, and simmer for 5-8 mins until the vegetables are tender.
• Meanwhile, blitz the remaining beans and tomatoes, the garlic and basil in a food processor (or in a bowl with a stick blender) until smooth, then stir in the Parmesan. Stir the sauce into the soup, cook for 1 min, then ladle half into bowls or pour into a flask for a packed lunch. Chill the remainder. Will keep for a couple of days.

SUMMER SQUASH SOUP WITH BASIL PISTOU

Steps:

• Melt butter in a medium stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the leek and half the garlic. Season well with salt and pepper; cook, stirring until soft and tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add squash, and cook, stirring, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove soup from heat; let cool slightly.
• Fill the bowl of a food processor with basil and remaining garlic. Drizzle olive oil through the feed tube; process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer basil pistou to a small bowl.
• Place slightly cooled soup in the cleaned bowl of the food processor, and process until soup is pureed but still slightly chunky.
• Return to stockpot; cook to reduce liquid and thicken just slightly, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with basil, and serve with basil pistou.

PISTOU (SUMMER VEGETABLE SOUP)

Steps:

• Over medium-low heat, gently saute the leek and onion until they are translucent and just beginning to brown. Add the diced carrots, diced potatoes, chopped tomato and cranberry beans. Add the sage and 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 40 minutes or longer, until the vegetables are soft.
• Twenty minutes before serving, add the string beans, zucchini and linguine. Add more water if necessary, stir to mix the ingredients, and continue cooking.
• While the soup finishes, make the pistou sauce. Place the garlic, basil and Parmesan in the container of a food processor or blender. Process or blend until the mixture is grainy. Continue processing, and add the oil, slowly but steadily, until the mixture is smooth. Mince the tomato pulp very finely, and drain in a fine- mesh sieve. Mix together with the rest of the sauce.
• When ready to serve, add a ladleful of hot soup to the sauce, mix well and combine the sauce and the rest of the soup. Serve immediately.

PROVENCAL VEGETABLE SOUP: SOUPE AU PISTOU

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and saute just until they start to turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute about 1 minute more. Add the carrots and celery and continue sauteing until the vegetables deepen in color but have not yet begun to brown, 3 to 4 minutes more. Pour the stock into the pan, bring it to a boil, and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Sprinkle in a generous pinch of salt.
• Tie the peppercorns, thyme, and parsley in a square of cheesecloth, securing it with kitchen string. Add this bouquet garni to the pan. Stir in the beans, zucchini, summer squash, and tomato. Continue simmering until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the Pistou: Put the garlic and tomatoes in a blender or food processor with about 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Begin processing. With the machine running, add the basil leaves, and then pour in enough extra-virgin olive oil to make a smooth, thick, but fluid paste. Transfer about 2/3 of the paste into a serving bowl to pass alongside the soup.
• Make the Goat Cheese Croutons: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Brush the bread slices with olive oil and arrange them on a baking sheet. Bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove them from the oven and turn on the broiler. Spread 1 side of each crouton with goat cheese and put it back on the baking sheet. Broil until the cheese is warm and slightly bubbly, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
• When the soup is ready, stir the remaining pistou into the saucepan, ladling some of the hot broth into the blender or processor bowl to swirl and rinse any pesto clinging inside into the pan. Remove and discard the bouquet garni. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning with a little more salt.
• Ladle the soup into individual heated serving bowls. Float a crouton in the center of each bowl. With a spoon, drizzle a little more pistou over the crouton and soup in each bowl. Serve immediately, passing more pistou alongside for each person to add, to taste.

PISTOU OF SUMMER VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Have ready large bowl ice water. In medium saucepan over high heat, bring salted water to boil. Add asparagus and boil, uncovered, until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, then immediately plunge spears into ice water to stop cooking. Drain again and pat dry.
• Have ready large bowl ice water. In medium saucepan over high heat, bring salted water to boil. Add fava beans and boil, uncovered, 1 minute. Drain in colander, then immediately plunge colander into ice water to stop cooking. Drain again. Slip outer skin off each bean and discard.
• Have ready large bowl ice water. In medium saucepan over high heat, bring salted water to boil. Add peas and boil, uncovered, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain in colander, then immediately plunge colander into ice water to stop cooking. Drain again and spread on paper towels to dry.
• Have ready large bowl ice water. In medium saucepan over high heat, bring salted water to boil. Add basil and boil, uncovered, 45 seconds. Drain in colander, then immediately plunge colander into ice water to stop cooking. Drain again and spread on paper towels to dry.
• (Asparagus, fava beans, sugar snap peas, and basil can be blanched up to 4 hours ahead, then dried well, and chilled, covered until needed.)
• In large bowl, toss together asparagus, fava beans, and peas. Transfer half vegetable mixture to blender and add basil. Blend until chopped, then add 5 tablespoons olive oil in slow, steady stream, and blend until smooth.
• In heavy, large saucepan, over moderately high heat, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil until hot but not smoking. Add shallot and sauté until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in vegetable stock, vegetable purée, remaining blanched vegetables, salt, and pepper and bring to simmer. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally until vegetables are heated through, 3 to 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle each with herb mixture, and serve immediately.

SUMMER-SQUASH SOUP WITH PARSLEY MINT PISTOU

Steps:

• Make soup:
• Melt butter in a 6- to 8-quart wide heavy pot over moderate heat, then cook onion with salt, stirring, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add squash, carrots, potato, and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool soup, uncovered, 10 minutes.
• Working in batches, purée; soup in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids) and transfer to a bowl. Return puré to cleaned pot and thin with water if desired; simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt.
• Make pistou while vegetables simmer:
• Pulse mint, parsley, and scallion in a food processor until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil in a stream, then add water and salt, blending until incorporated.
• Swirl 1 tablespoon pistou into each bowl of soup.

SOUPE AU PISTOU

Steps:

• Drain the white beans and combine with 2 quarts water in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Skim off any foam, then add half the onion, half the garlic and the bouquet garni. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add salt to taste.
• Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet, and add the remaining chopped onion and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add the leeks and remaining garlic. Stir together for a few minutes, and add the tomatoes. Cook, stirring, until the tomatoes have cooked down slightly and the mixture is fragrant, five to 10 minutes. Stir this mixture into the soup pot, add all of the remaining vegetables except the green beans, and bring back to a simmer. Cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes to an hour. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
• While the soup is simmering, blanch the green beans for five minutes in salted boiling water. Transfer to a bowl of ice-cold water. Drain and set aside.
• To make the pistou, mash the garlic with a generous pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle. Remove it and set aside. Grind the basil to a paste in the mortar, a handful at a time, then add the garlic back in and mix together well. Work in the olive oil a tablespoon at a time, then stir in the cheese.
• Add the pasta to the simmering soup about 10 minutes before serving, and cook until cooked al dente. Add pepper, taste and adjust salt. Stir the blanched green beans into the soup and heat through. Serve, adding a spoonful of pesto to each bowl for guests to stir in. Pass additional Parmesan for sprinkling.