Recipe: Soupe Au Pistou
A simple version of a French vegetable soup...and while we're making it, an explanation of the word "bowdlerize."
There are some recipes that have evolved from available local ingredients, simple beginnings that were added to and gussied up over time. Irish stew is one, with things added like long-simmered broths, mushrooms, and other ingredients not practical or possible to find, not if you’re living in a bare-bones cottage on the heath. Authentic Irish stew is made with water, not stock, and it’s good made that way.
Soupe au Pistou is another recipe that has been bowdlerized, and I offer below a simple, plain version, made from end-of-season vegetables. It also uses water as a base, great if you’re a vegetarian. Many villages in the south of France set up community tables and serve this as a sort of festive, sometimes fund-raising, event. These are a lot of fun and offer an excuse to eat a lot of garlic, yay! What you want here is a soup so thick with beans that a spoon will almost stand up in it by itself.
Add more beans if you need to thicken it up. I used to be able to find fresh shelling beans, but no more, so now I use Goya cranberry beans, rinsed and drained. I buy organic vegetables, and the local garlic this year has been fantastic. Make lots of the pistou (pesto) while the garlic and basil are around; it freezes, and can also be used with pasta.
A side note: The word “bowdlerize” refers to an early 19th-century cancel culture fool named Thomas Bowdler, whose mission was to edit Shakespeare’s plays, and works by others, to conform to his own limited and narrow standards of what was proper. He removed sexual references and double entendres, diminishing the authenticity and artistry of the authors. Something to think about while having your soup.
Back to business. This does a good job of filling my seven-quart enameled cast iron casserole.[In the pot, ready to cook, in photo at right.] Six plus generous servings, with leftovers, which you can freeze.
Soup au Pistou
2 quarts water
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
3 handfuls of green beans, trimmed and cut into several pieces each
2 or 3 medium carrots, cleaned and diced
3 small boiling potatoes (Yukon Gold), peeled and diced
2 medium zucchini, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cans of cranberry beans, rinsed and drained. (Navy beans, or other white beans, can also be used, or 3 handfuls of fresh shelling beans.)
A shake or two or dried thyme, or fresh if you have it
1 bay leaf
Put all this into a pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes or so, until the vegetables are soft and the liquid is reduced by a third or so, stirring once in a while. You want a thick soup. Add more salt, some pepper, more thyme, to taste. I am moderate here, and put salt (Maldon) and a pepper mill on the table. At this point, you can put this aside, even for a day or two, all the better. Before serving, bring to a boil again and add a small handful of spaghetti broken into small pieces. Simmer with pasta about 10 minutes.
In advance, or while the soup is cooking, put 3 or 4 pressed or finely chopped garlic cloves into a food processor with a good pinch of sea salt and two handfuls of washed, dried, coarsely cut basil leaves. (I spread the rinsed leaves onto a clean linen dish towel; put another towel on top and pat dry. You can’t do this too far ahead, basil is not long for this world.) Whiz this into a paste, then drizzle in one-third cup of extra virgin olive oil. Keep going, you want as smooth a sauce as you can get. It will be thick and creamy. You can mix half of this into the soup and serve the rest on the side. I serve it all on the side out of courtesy to any dentists being seen within the next few days. My daughter also likes grated Parmesan sprinkled on top.
The pistou can also be made with a mortar and pestle (hard labor but it’s better), if you have the time. I use the food processor most of the time.
