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Vegetable Soup With Garlic, Basil And Tomato Sauce
(Soupe au Pistou)
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| What You Need: |
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3 cups water
¾ cup dry white beans)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1 pound tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped (about 1½ cups)
3 quarts water
1½ cups diced carrots
1½ cups diced boiling potatoes
1 cup coarsely chopped leeks (optional)
½ cup coarsely chopped celery leaves
1 tablespoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1½ cups sliced fresh green string beans
1½ cups diced, unpeeled zucchini
½ cup broken pieces of spaghettini
2 pinches crumbled saffron threads
PISTOU
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ cup finely cut fresh basil or 5 tablespoons dried basil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 small slice stale French bread, finely crumbled (optional)
1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
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| How To Cook: |
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1. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan. Drop in the dry beans and boil them for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the beans soak for 1 hour. Return the pan to low heat and simmer uncovered for 1 to 1½ hours, or until the beans are tender. Drain the beans and reserve the cooking liquid.
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2. In a heavy soup pot or kettle, heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir in the diced onions and cook over moderate heat until limp and golden, then add the tomatoes and cook for 3 or 4 minutes longer. Pour in 3 quarts of water and bring to a boil over high heat.
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3. Add the carrots, potatoes, leeks, celery leaves, salt and a few grindings of pepper; reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir in the white beans, their cooking liquid, the green beans, zucchini, spaghettini and saffron, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Taste and season.
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4. Meanwhile, prepare the PISTOU: With a large mortar and pestle (or a wooden spoon and heavy bowl), mash the garlic and basil into a paste. Work in the tomato paste and ½ cup of the cheese, then beat in 6 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time. To serve, ladle the soup into a tureen. Thin the pistouwith ½ cup of soup stock and stir as much of the pistou as you like into the soup. Sprinkle in the crumbled bread (optional). Pass the rest of the grated cheese separately.
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