Soupe au pistou is a hearty vegetable soup truly packed with plant-based goodness. This traditional Provencal recipe makes the most of seasonal vegetables and shines with the addition of pistou which is stirred in when serving.
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.
Notes
You can use different vegetables, simply add in the order they need to be cooked. Root vegetables will need longer than fresh vegetables.You can use any type of hard cheese such as Parmesan or Grana Padano if you can't find the cheese specified here.Cooking time on the stovetop will be about 30 minutes.