Equipment
Ingredients
Soup Base
- 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 leek, cleaned and sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 300 g waxy potatoes, peeled and diced
- 400 g fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
- 1500 ml vegetable broth, low sodium preferred
- 1 bouquet garni
- 250 g zucchini, diced
- 200 g green beans, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces
- 400 g cooked cannellini beans, rinsed and drained if canned
- 100 g small dried pasta, macaroni, ditalini, or coquillettes
- fine sea salt
- black pepper, freshly ground
Vegan Pistou
- 4 garlic, peeled, germ removed
- 5 g coarse sea salt
- 60 g fresh basil, leaves only, washed and completely dried
- 120 ml extra virgin olive oil, high quality, fruity
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 646 kcal
- Protein
- 16 g
- Carbohydrates
- 94 g
- Fat
- 25 g
- Fiber
- 18 g
- Sugar
- 18 g
- Sodium
- 1529 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 4 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 17 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 3 g
- Cholesterol
- 7 mg
- Potassium
- 2037 mg
- Calcium
- 192 mg
- Iron
- 5.4 mg
- Magnesium
- 107 mg
- Phosphorus
- 264 mg
- Zinc
- 1.5 mg
- Vitamin A
- 962 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 32 mg
- Vitamin E
- 5.1 mg
- Vitamin K
- 94 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.8 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.0 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.37 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.22 mg
- Niacin
- 4.4 mg
- Folate
- 65 mcg
- Water
- 331 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Using a chef's knife and cutting board, dice the onion, leek, carrots, potatoes, and zucchini into uniform 1cm cubes to ensure even cooking and a balanced spoonful.
Heat 30ml of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced onion, leek, and carrots. Sweat the vegetables, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until softened but not browned.
Add the chopped tomatoes, diced potatoes, bouquet garni, and vegetable broth to the pot. Increase the heat to bring the mixture to a gentle boil.
Reduce the heat to low, partially cover the pot, and simmer the soup base gently to allow the flavors to meld and the hard root vegetables to tenderize.
Add the diced zucchini, cut green beans, cooked cannellini beans, and small dried pasta to the simmering soup. Continue to cook uncovered until the pasta and green vegetables are tender.
While the soup finishes simmering, begin the pistou. Place the peeled garlic cloves and coarse sea salt into a mortar and pestle. Pound aggressively until a completely smooth, sticky paste forms.
Add the thoroughly dried basil leaves to the mortar a small handful at a time. Use a grinding and crushing motion against the sides of the mortar to break down the leaves into a dark green paste.
Slowly drizzle the extra virgin olive oil into the basil and garlic paste in a thin, steady stream while stirring constantly with the pestle to create a thick, emulsified sauce.
Remove the soup from the heat, extract and discard the bouquet garni, and season the broth with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Ladle the hot soup into individual bowls.
Serve immediately, instructing diners to swirl a generous spoonful of the raw pistou into their hot soup right before eating.
Chef's Notes
- Traditional pistou relies on the mechanical action of a mortar and pestle to release the essential oils of the basil, resulting in a significantly more aromatic paste than one made in a food processor where the blades simply chop rather than crush.
- Removing the green germ from the center of the garlic cloves is a classic French technique that prevents raw garlic preparations from developing an overly harsh, bitter bite.
- For the most refined texture, commit to cutting all vegetables to be roughly the same size as the beans and pasta. This ensures that every spoonful offers a balanced mix of the soup's ingredients.
- If your soup feels too thick after simmering, add a splash of boiling water to adjust the consistency. The starch from the potatoes and pasta will naturally thicken the broth as it cooks.
Storage
Refrigerator: 4 days — Store the pistou separately from the soup to preserve its vibrant green color and fresh raw garlic flavor.
Freezer: 3 months — Freeze the soup base before adding pasta, as pasta turns mushy upon thawing. Freeze pistou in ice cube trays.
Reheating: Reheat the soup base gently on the stove until simmering. Stir in fresh or thawed pistou off the heat directly in the serving bowls.
Troubleshooting
Pistou turns dark brown or black
Cause: Basil was oxidized by heat, blunt cutting tools, or prolonged air exposure
Fix: Cannot be fixed cosmetically, but the flavor remains acceptable and safe to eat
Prevention: Ensure basil leaves are completely dry before pounding, make the pistou right before serving, and never boil the finished sauce
Pasta has swollen and become completely mushy
Cause: Soup was boiled too rapidly or for too long after the pasta was added
Fix: Cannot be fixed
Prevention: Add pasta only in the final 10 to 15 minutes of cooking and serve promptly
Pistou tastes excessively harsh or bitter
Cause: The central germ of the garlic was left intact, or the olive oil used was overly bitter
Fix: Dilute the sauce with a little more mild olive oil and a pinch of salt
Prevention: Always split garlic cloves vertically and remove the green core before pounding
Cultural Context
Soupe au Pistou is the quintessential dish of Provence, originating as a humble peasant soup meant to utilize the abundant garden harvests of late summer. The word pistou comes from the Niçard language word pistâ, meaning to pound or crush, directly referring to the method of making the basil sauce. Unlike its Italian cousin pesto, a classic French pistou rarely contains pine nuts and often omits cheese entirely, allowing the pure, unadulterated flavors of summer basil, sharp garlic, and rich olive oil to shine.
