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French Pesto Soup (Soup au Pistou)

French Pesto Soup in white bowl on concrete background with white wine and baguette in background
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One of my ABSOLUTE favorite soups!

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 cup of dried White Beans OR 1 can of White Beans (any variation will do)
  • 2 Leeks, diced
  • 2 large Carrots, diced
  • 3–5 Potatoes, diced
  • 1 handful of Green Beans, chopped
  • 1 cup of Black Eyed Peas or Green Peas, frozen
  • 1 Tomato, diced
  • 4–5 cloves of Garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp fresh Thyme
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 1.5 liters of Water
  • 1 cup of dried Pasta of choice (I used elbow pasta)

For the Pistou-

  • 2 cups of Fresh Basil Leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 clove of Garlic
  • 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan
  • 1/4 cup of Olive Oil

Instructions

For the Soup-

  1. If you are using dried white beans, place the beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water (make the water about 2-3 inches above the beans, as they will expand). Let them soak overnight. See NOTES for how to cook the dried beans, if using. If you’re using canned beans, skip this step.
  2. If you are using dried beans, drain the beans and throw the water away the next morning.
  3. Prepare all of the vegetables- dice the leeks, carrots, potatoes, green beans, and tomato.
  4. Mince the garlic.
  5. Add oil to the large pot or dutch oven and heat over medium to high heat.
  6. Sauté the leeks until they are translucent.
  7. Add in the garlic and sauté for another minute.
  8. Add in the potatoes, green beans, and carrots.
  9. Sauté for about 5-10 minutes until they are about halfway cooked.
  10. Add in the thyme, salt, pepper, and water.
  11. Bring to a boil.
  12. Cook at a low boil, uncovered, for about 15 minutes.
  13. Add in black eyed peas (or peas), white beans (along with the water they were cooked in, or the liquid from the can), and pasta. You can also add in any additional water, up to 1 cup, if need be.
  14. Cover and cook at a low boil for about 7-8 minutes, until both the pasta and the potatoes are completely cooked.
  15. While the soup is cooling off, go ahead and make the pistou.

For the Pistou (see note)-

  1. Place the garlic, along with a pinch of salt into a mortar and pestle and pound until it’s a paste.
  2. Put the roughly chopped basil inside, and pound until fully broken down and smooth.
  3. Place the parmesan in and pound until it is just starting to mix with the basil/garlic.
  4. SLOWLY drizzle in the olive oil, while pounding, until everything is completely mixed and smooth.

Assembly-

  1. Place desired amount of soup in a bowl using a ladle.
  2. Place a generous helping of pistou on top of the soup and stir in.
  3. Enjoy!!! 

Notes

Don’t have all of these veggies on hand? Don’t like certain ingredients?

No fear! This is a seasonal soup and can be enjoyed with pretty much any veggies that you want! If you don’t like a certain one, or if you don’t have it feel free to either omit it or switch it out for something you like better! This is a very customizable soup!

How to cook the dried beans-

  1. Let the soak overnight in a large bowl, covered by 2-3 inches of cold water.
  2. The next morning, drain and throw the water away.
  3. Place the beans in a pot and pour water to where water is covering the beans by about an inch.
  4. Stir in a pinch of salt and a bay leaf for flavor.
  5. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer.
  6. Simmer for about 40-45 minutes, until the beans are al dente (they will cook a little more in the soup)
  7. Turn heat off, and set aside, but be sure to save the water they were cooked in, as you will be adding this to the soup later on.

If you do not have a mortar and pestle for pistou-

  1. In a small food processor, pulse garlic and a pinch of salt until it is a paste.
  2. Place in the roughly chopped basil leaves and pulse until it is fully broken down and smooth.
  3. Place the parmesan and pulse until just starting to combine with the basil and garlic.
  4. SLOWLY drizzle the olive oil in while continuing to pulse until everything is fully combined and smooth.
  5. Serve and enjoy!

Keywords: soup, French, pesto, pistou

Find it online: https://www.iamtaradawn.com/french-pesto-soup-soup-au-pistou/