Soup #4 Soupe Au Pistou

[Guest guest]

Alice Waters - Soupe Au Pistou

 

 

October 30, 1999

 

 

 

Soupe Au Pistou

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

Serves 6

 

1 pound (1 cup shelled) fresh shell beans (Cranberry, Borlotto, Dragon

Tongue, etc.)

1 onion

Bouquet garni: Thyme, parsley stems, cracked peppercorns, bay leaf

1 pound green beans

2 green zucchini

2 yellow summer squash

2 tomatoes

Salt and pepper

1/4 pound orzo, conchiglie, or orrechiette pasta

Pistou

6 cloves garlic

2 cups basil leaves

Reggiano Parmesan cheese

Extra-virgin olive oil

 

 

DIRECTIONS

Shell the beans and cook them for about 30 minutes in 2 quarts salted

water with the onion, cut in quarters, and the bouquet garni.

While the beans are cooking, cut the green beans, zucchini, and yellow

squash into chunks roughly the size of the tip of your finger, so each

spoonful of soup will have a variety of different vegetables. Peel,

seed,

and chop the tomatoes. Strain any juice from the seeds through a sieve

into the bean broth.

When the shell beans are tender, drain them, reserving the liquid.

Remove

the bouquet garni and the onion quarters and discard. Bring the bean

broth

back to a broil and lower the heat. Season with salt. Add the green

beans

to the broth, and when it has returned to a simmer again, add the

zucchini

and yellow squash. When the broth returns to a simmer again, add the

shell

beans and diced tomatoes and let it all cook together gently for 20

minutes. Add the pasta after 10 minutes. The broth should be busy with

vegetables, but add some more liquid if they get too crowded.

To make the pistou, pound the garlic cloves to a purée in a mortar, add

all the basil leaves, roughly chopped, and keep pounding and working

until

you obtain a paste. Add a small handful of grated Parmesan and thin out

with some olive oil.

When the pasta is cooked, taste the soup and adjust the seasoning. Let

the

soup sit for an hour and reheat it before serving. Bring the pistou to

the

table in its mortar. Serve the soup with a generous spoonful of pistou

in

each bowl and pass a bowl with more grated Parmesan.

 

Chez Panisse Vegetables

 

 

1999 Alice Waters.