pistou soup

pistou soup. nothing can make you think more about the Provence than the smell of a pot of pistou soup. I went to the vegetables local market I bought a lot of fresh vegetables squashes ,tomatoes,  zucchini,,green beans. all these vegetables looked so good . It is October and soon it will be the end of these delicious locals vegetables

The pistou soup is a delicious and an commun vegetables  soup which is eaten all through the summer in  the South of France, it's originality is due to the fact that the pistou sauce is added to the soup after it has finished cooking so it gives the soup a delicious fresh taste. Differents regions of Provence boast the real pistou soup  but who care as long as all these recipes are delicious.
Antoinette put potatoes in her pistou soup and Janine never never does. and you should never use meat it is a vegetables soup. and please no leeks!!.
When I make my pistou soup I cheat a bit . I like to use some bacon or Pancetta and I like to use some leeks too .  I do not use potatoes because I use some small pasta at the end and I don't think the soup needs so much starch. whatever you decide to do your soup is going to be delicious

recipe for the Pistou soup
ingredients
2 leeks
olive oil
1/4 of a lb of pancetta cut in small cube or bacon
2 cups fresh white beans or 2 cups of white can beans.
1/2 lb of green beans
2 squashes
2 zucchini
for the pistou: 1 clove of garlic(or more)fresh basilic and 2 tomatoes
salt, pepper,herbes de provence or Italian seasonings
fresh basil, fresh thyme if you have some

preparation
if you use dry beans you may want to soak them throught the night.
Prepare all the other vegetables

cut the leeks in small pieces (you may use a kitchen knife) rinse the leeks in a lot of water and drain.
peel the squashes and zucchini and cut in small cubes

Cut the pancetta in small cubes saute in the olive oil. Cook about 5 mnins
add the leeks to the pancetta cooked 10 more mins or till the leeks are tender
At this time your kitchen smell oh so good.
Add the white beans cover with water and cook for about an hour or till the beans are cooked
When the beans are cooked add all the vegetables and a few leaves of basil and salt and pepper to taste. Add 2 pinches of" Herbes de Provence" or "italian seasoning"

Cook till all the vegetables are cooked  about an other hour and add a few handfull of noodles . I like to add vermicelli because they are very small and do over  power the soup.
While all the vegetables are cooking make the pistou
Pistou
"blanch" the tomatoes peel and.chop
chop the garlic and the basil
ground with the parmesan cheese and the olive oil.( you may do that in a food processor)

serve the soup with a spoon full of pistou and more parmesan . and some french bread or italian bread.



tous a table et bon appetit

notes.
this soup originaly is a complete vegetarian soup so you do not need to add any meat
the leeks may be replaced by onion.
Make sure not to over cook the vegetables since you still have to cook the noodles when the vegetables are almost ready.
I make a lot of soup . I freeze some and take some to my daughter. I do not add any noodles till the soup is ready to be eaten. and naturally I don't add the pistou either till the last min.
I explain how to make pistou but really for the pistou soup I make more like a little salsa.   I do not ground the vegetables for the pistou I just chop them. I think it is a lot fresher that way . but that is up to you
you may had 1 can of white beans or any kind of beans you like instead or fresh beans or dry beans. In this case you will add the beans when you add all the vegetables