Soupe au pistou is a hearty vegetable soup truly packed with plant-based goodness. This traditional Provençal recipe makes the most of seasonal vegetables and shines with the addition of pistou which is stirred in when serving.
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There’s an argument that has been quietly simmering for the better part of 15 years in my house. My husband avows that ‘soup is NOT food’.
Naturally, I completely disagree. What he means, of course, is that soup by itself is not substantial enough to satisfy real hunger.
In some cases he may be right, but in the case of soupe au pistou he is completely wrong. This French vegetarian soup is very filling, healthy and absolutely delicious!
What is pistou?
Pistou? Don’t you mean pesto? You are not far wrong! Pistou is basically the French version of the more well-known Italian pesto but without any nuts. I actually prefer this version!
Pistou contains fresh basil leaves, garlic, olive oil and grated cheese and salt. You can make it in a pestle and mortar but it’s a lot easier and quicker to make it using a small food processor or immersion blender – I used my Bamix.
You can make pistou with a few different varieties of hard cheese. In this recipe I have used Džiugas cheese – a product that I was recently introduced to, but you just as easily use Parmesan.
Apart from topping pistou soup you can use it to add deliciousness to tomato-based stews, pasta or canapés. It is mildly addictive stuff, you have been warned.
What vegetables go into Soupe au Pistou?
I like to think of pistou soup as ‘kitchen sink’ type of soup. There’s no hard and fast rule about what vegetables must be included – instead choose whatever vegetables are in season or do a fridge clear out.
You can pick and choose whatever you have to hand from the list below or simply add your own twist!
- Onions and garlic
- Celery
- Carrots
- Leeks
- Squash
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes – skinned and deseeded
- Tomato paste – I left the paste out since I had run out – the soup will have a more appealing colour if you add some
- Green beans
- Peas, fresh or frozen
- Courgettes (zucchini)
- Baby kale – I used kalettes
Other ingredients include
- Dried beans like haricot or cannellini (I use canned for convenience)
- Small pasta shapes such as risoni, orzo or stellini
- Vegetable stock
Making pistou soup on the stove
Since come of the vegetables require a longer cooking time you have to add them to the soup in that order. The order listed above is the order you should add them to the soup but use your judgement – anything that cooks quickly is added last.
Step 1. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and then sauté the onion, garlic, bay leaves, celery, and potato for 5 minutes over medium-low heat. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Step 2. Add the stock, cannellini beans, chopped tomatoes and paste. Stir, bring to the boil then reduce heat to a simmer.
Step 3. Cook until the vegetables are soft and soup has thickened slightly. Stir in the pasta and cook for time specified in packaging.
Step 4. Stir in courgette (zucchini), green beans and kale right at the end, a couple of minutes before the pasta is ready. Make sure there’s sufficient liquid – if not, top up with hot water.
Step 5. Serve topped with a generous spoonful of the pistou. Stir in and enjoy!
Making pistou soup in an Instant Pot
I love using my pressure cooker to make soup – it cooks everything very quickly and doesn’t require any babysitting.
Step 1. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the Instant Pot using the Sauté function. Cook the onion until slightly softened then add the garlic, bay leaves, celery, beans, potatoes and stock. Cook on high pressure for 7 minutes.
Step 2. Release the pressure manually. Add the tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, kale and pasta and cook for 1 minute at high pressure. The Instant Pot will take a short time to come to pressure and soon beep again – release the pressure manually. Don’t leave the soup on the ‘keep warm’ setting as the pasta can quickly overcook. If it is a little too al dente however you could leave it for a few minutes.
Step 3. Check and adjust the seasoning if needed. Ladle into bowls and add a nice big spoonful of pistou over each.
HAVE YOU MADE MY SOUP AU PISTOU? Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes. I can’t wait to see your take on it!
MORE HEARTY SOUPS TO TRY!
- Vegan corn chowder
- Vegan spiced carrot, parsnip and chickpea soup
- Spinach, Coconut and Zucchini Soup
- Lentil, sweet potato and kale soup
Soupe au pistou – pistou soup
Ingredients
For the pistou
- 1 large bunch fresh basil , leaves only
- 60 g | 2oz Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese , grated
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3-4 tbsp virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Hot water to dilute , as needed
For the soup
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion , finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves , sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 sticks celery , chopped
- 1 potato , cut into small cubes
- 400 g | 14oz tin cannellini beans , drained
- 2 tsp tomato paste (optional)
- 1.5 lt | 1.5 quarts | 6.5 cups vegetable stock
- 3 to matoes , deseeded and chopped
- 1-2 courgettes (zucchini), finely diced
- Large handful green beans , finely diced
- 80 g | ⅓ cup risoni pasta (or any small pasta shape)
- Juice of half a lemon
- Large handful baby kale
Instructions
For the pistou
- Put all the ingredients apart in a small food processor and blitz until blended. You can add more olive oil or a little hot water to thin the pistou out as needed. It should be a little runnier than pesto, so that you can spoon it over the soup.
For the soup – stovetop method
- Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and then sauté the onion, garlic, bay celery, and potatoes for 5 minutes over medium-low heat.
- Add the salt, stock, chopped tomatoes, cannellini beans and stir. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer.
- Cook until the vegetables are soft and soup has thickened slightly. Stir in the pasta and cook for time specified in packaging.
- Stir in courgette (zucchini), green beans and kale right at the end, a couple of minutes before the pasta is ready. Make sure there’s sufficient liquid – if not, top up with hot water.
- Remove the bay leaves and check the seasoning. Serve topped with a generous spoonful of the pistou. Stir in and enjoy!
For the soup – Instant Pot method
- Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the Instant Pot using the Sauté function. Cook the onion until slightly softened then add the garlic, bay leaves, salt, celery, beans, potatoes and stock. Cook on high pressure for 7 minutes.
- Release the pressure manually. Add the tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, kale and pasta and cook for 1 minute at high pressure. The Instant Pot will take a short time to come to pressure and soon beep again – release the pressure manually. Don’t leave the soup on the ‘keep warm’ setting as the pasta can quickly overcook. If it is a little too al dente however you could leave it for a few minutes.
- Remove the bay leaves. Check and adjust the seasoning. Ladle into bowls and add a nice big spoonful of pistou over each.
starwell says
this looks really good. May I suggest you have a recipe heading at the top of the page & a facility to print out your lovely recipes easier than what I can do now. I see the recipes & want to try them as I love to try something different – for a change.
prwilson says
Never heard of Pistou soup before, looks delicious.
Camilla @FabFood4All says
Ooh, I'm with you and regularly serve soup as a meal in the winter. This soup looks utterly luscious and will be on my to make list for sure:-) Thank you for entering Credit Crunch Munch:-)