Soupe au Pistou

A bowl of soupe au pistou with beans, pasta, pistou, and grated cheese, served with slices of rustic bread on the side.

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This Soupe au Pistou skips overnight beans and long cook times. A Provençal classic made simple!

Prep Time20

Cook Time55

Servings:

Calories: 316kcal

Author: Chef Molly Pisula

Ingredients

For the soup:

1 small yellow onion
2 large carrots
2 cloves garlic
1 large zucchini
3 plum tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups vegetable broth
Fresh thyme sprig
1 15-oz. can butter beans drained and rinsed
¼ cup dried ditalini pasta or similar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese for serving

For the pistou:

1 cup packed basil leaves about 2 ounces
1 clove garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Peel and chop onion. Peel and chop carrots. Peel and finely chop garlic cloves.
Dice zucchini. Core and seed tomatoes, then chop.
Add olive oil to a large saucepan, and heat over medium.
Sauté chopped carrots, onion, and garlic in olive oil for 10 minutes. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper.
Add the zucchini and tomatoes, and sauté for another 10 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
Add vegetable broth, 3 cups water, and another ¼ teaspoon salt. Increase heat to bring to a simmer.
Add thyme sprig to pot.
Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the pistou by combining ingredients in a small food processor. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
Add beans and pasta to the soup, and cook until pasta is tender (about 15 min).
Remove thyme sprig. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, as desired.
Serve with dollop of pistou and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Notes

Storage Tips:

Store soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Store pistou in a separate container in the refrigerator and swirl in before serving. Freeze the soup without pasta for the best texture when you defrost and reheat the soup. Add in freshly cooked pasta when reheating, then dollop on the pistou just before serving.

Expert Tips:

The pasta in this soup will swell the longer it sits in the pot. If you know you are going to eat the soup immediately and not have any leftovers, you can up the pasta to ½ cup to make this soup even heartier. If not, stick to the ¼ cup, especially if you know you will have leftovers. If the pasta has swelled up in the refrigerator, you can add in some water or vegetable stock as you are re-heating.

This soup will taste even better if you let it sit overnight (though in that case, I recommend holding off on adding the pasta until the next day).

For a non-vegetarian version of this recipe, add a ham hock into the broth when it’s cooking. Then remove the ham hock and shred any cooked ham to return to the pot.

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