This French vegetable soup is the most striking farewell to summer
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Why does it work
- Slowly simmer all summer vegetables in a saucepan tender to melt to get a soothing, rustic soup.
- Lively pistou – a French variant of the Italian pesto sauce – awakens the rich but mild soup with a blast of garlic and basil.
The genuine, it is fair to say, got around. The citizens of Genoa, one of the historical maritime republics of Italy, were known for their caution. The history of her interactions with and influence the larger Mediterranean and beyond could fill volumes, but I will concentrate on a small aspect here: Sauce Pest.
Do you know, we all know most of us (except for the garlic and basil hazers out there) love it. Well, the French love it too. In Provence, a short excursion in a merchant galer from the Docks from La Superba, the superlative tome name of the Ligurian capital, Pesto arrested with only a slightly adapted name and a slightly adapted recipe. There it is called Pistou and consists of the same basic ingredients – basil, garlic and olive oil – but without the absorption of pine and cheese through the original. Instead, many versions of Provenzal Pistou contain some vegetables, often fresh hack tomatoes or a head of the classic summer soup, with which Pistou is served most famous.
The pairing is so classic that the soup has its name from the sauce: soups au pistou.
What is in soup au pistou?
Soup Au Pistou is a soothing staple in Provence and has a number of sun -drenched products. But as with any cozy vegetable medley, there is no list of ingredients that everyone follows. In general, soup contains au pistou:
- Beans in two or three shapes: including fresh spring or Romano beans (those long, flat string-beacons) as well as fresh and/or dried shell beans (cranberry and other beans from the Borlotti type are a popular option, but not the only one).
- Onions or a relative, such as B. leek
- Zucchini or other summer urbis
- Potato that I like to cut into the soup “Granny style“
- Fresh tomato
- Carrot
- Optional cooked pasta bowls or another small shape
- Many other things that look good and are not too seasoned (maybe they leave the beets and ruticatas for another dish)
Serious food / Amanda Suarez
The preparation method for the soup is also flexible. Some cook it less so that the vegetables keep their shape and swim in a brighter broth. Others prefer it in the style of a thick vegetable stew, with all parts and nubbins throw into each other and thicken the broth, so that it is rich and ribsticks, even if it is completely vegetarian. I love the thicker, devastating version because it is nothing less than sexy for me – the tenses of vegetables fresh and full of taste, still full of strength that relaxes in sublime submission.
Oh – it doesn’t have to be vegetarian either. Some recipes contain a piece of salt pork in the pot.
My recipe is for the thicker, uniform version, and I leave out the pork so that the vegetables make the vegetables shine. However, you can easily change it by adding the cooking times and/or adding grease pigs at the beginning.
The power of the pistou
If your vegetables are good – ideal in the season and in the top maturity of a farm or market – the soup alone will be a miracle. However, it is not exactly a taste explosion. The Pistou comes into play there. The soup wakes up stingy with spicy, funky garlic, grassy olive oil and herbal basil, a taste burner that gives every bite a fresh pop. Some people like to stir it into the pot, others let the guests decide how much they should contribute to their individual shells. But stir it into you, you must preferably have to wealth together with a healthy cheese cheese.
Serious food / Amanda Suarez
You don’t have to use the mortar and the pestle as I do – even though I give myself automatic authenticity points. I can imagine that a French basken-grand-père or a grand master watched me with marmorming and olive wood in my hand. Yes, yes, you say. It’s so good. Here is the authentic! And I don’t try to see myself too complacently with myself while hanging on the praise.
No, you don’t have to do that. You can use a mixer or kitchen machine and it will still be good.
In any case, I recommend throwing this Basil leaves in the freezer For a short piece first. The ice crystals, which form during the quick freezing, delicately the leaves and make it easier to shred them, and the cold temperatures temporarily deactivate enzymes that lead to the basil when it is hacked when it is hacked.
It is good that the Genoese pesto distributed wherever they sailed. This warming summer soup is the best celebration of it.
Serious food / Amanda Suarez
This French vegetable soup is the most striking farewell to summer
Cooking mode
(Keep your screen awake)
For the soup:
3 tablespoon ((45 ML))) Olive oil outdoor virgin
1 pound Yellow onions ((454 G; around 2 medium Onion), Dice
Kosher or fine sea Salt
1 pound ((454 Gshot Fresh cranberry beans (from approximate 3 pound; 1.3 kg Cranberry Bean Pods) or 8 Ounce ((227 G) soaked Dried cannellini or Cranberry beans (If you have dried, you will find notes for soaking instructions)
1 pound ((454 G))) String beans or Romano BeanS, stem ends and beans cut in 1/2-inch lengths
1 pound ((454 G))) zucchiniEnds curtailed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 Ounce ((227 G))) Carrotpeeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 Ounce fresh tomato ((227 G; around 1 medium tomato), Cored and Shrow
3/4 pound ((340 G))) Yukon gold (yellow) potatoescut into small pieces
For the Pistou:
4 medium Carnate ((20 G))) Garlic
Medium coarse Sea salt Or kosher salt
2 Cup ((60 Gselected) Basil (Frozen, if desired to get a lighter pureein and color storage)
1/2 cup ((120 ML))) Olive oil outdoor virgin
2 quite Plum tomatoes (to 7 Ounce; 200 G in total), pulled outsown and chopped
To serve:
1 To 2 Cup cooked Pasta (optional)
Grated cheeseLike Gruyere, Comte or Gouda, for serving
For the soup: Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat until they are heated. Add onions and a pinch of salt and cook them frequently until it is soft but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add beans together with enough water to cover (approx. 1 liter/liter) and a large pinch of salt and simmer for boiling over high heat. Lower heat to the cook and cook until the beans are (almost delicate, but still keep a slight bite), about 40 minutes (although the time depends heavily on the type of beans you use, check the pubs and prioritize them in the course of the time estimate).
Serious food / Amanda Suarez
Add string beans, zucchini and carrots together with enough additional water to cover. Season with a generous pinch of salt. Simmer on strong heat and then reduce the heat to let simmer and cook until the vegetables are very tender.
Serious food / Amanda Suarez
Stir in the tomato and potatoes and cook until the potatoes are very tender for about 30 minutes. Additional water as needed when the soup becomes too dry: the final consistency of the soup depends on their preference, some people like it, others like a hearty stew. Season with salt.
Serious food / Amanda Suarez
For the Pistou: If you use a mortar and a pestle, crush garlic with a pinch of salt until it is sticky and pasty and no pieces remain. Next pound in basil, one handful after the other and the adding of salt while you go, make sure that the leaves are beaten well and no longer thread -shaped or in large parts before adding the next handful; Salt acts as a abrasive and helps to dismantle the basil, but be careful not to add too much and make the Pistou too salty. Chop into the olive oil, then stir in the chopped tomato.
If you use a mixer or kitchen machine, process garlic with basil, olive oil and salt until a smooth sauce forms. Stir in the hack tomatoes.
Serious food / Amanda Suarez
To serve: If you use pasta, stir the cooked pasta into the soup and set the consistency with additional hot water if it is too thick. Season to taste additional salt as required. Take the soup into serving shells and add the pistou and the cheese to your soups next to the guests to taste.
Serious food / Amanda Suarez
Notes
If you use dried beans, leave them at least 8 and up to 24 hours in plenty of cold water with a large pinch of salt and a small pinch of baking powder. Drain before adding the soup pot.
