Tour de France '20 - Stage 1 : Nice
It was a rainy first stage in Nice, and the weather matched here (the east coast), so what better way to start this Culinary Tour de France than with Nice's take on Ligurian Minestrone Soup: Vegetable Soupe au Pistou. With Nice’s proximity to Italy, there is some overlap of cuisine.
Vegetable Soup au Pistou
This soup is best made in the late summer or early fall when the local farmer’s market is teeming with the ripest and most-delicious produce. The recipe below was developed with what I found that week, but you can easily swap in your favorite vegetables. If you use tomatoes, just be sure to seed them first. What I love most about this soup is the herbaceous punch of the pistou, the French take on Italy’s pesto that excludes nuts.
Soup:
Onion
2-3 carrots
Celery rib
Leek (cleaned white and light green parts ¼ inch slices)
Herbs de Provence
Garlic
Tomato
Zucchini (halved and cut into ¼ inch semi-moons)
3 handfuls of green beans cut into thirds
Vegetable stock
½ cup of dried pasta (Orzo or other small pasta like Ditalini or Orecchiette)
Can of white beans such as Cannellini, drained and rinse
Pistou:
fistful of basil torn
heavy pinch of parsley leaves
minced clove of garlic
grated grana padano (parm or pecorino will do, too)
extra virgin olive oil
Heat 2-3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a soup/stock pot over medium heat. Sweat the diced onion, carrots, celery rib and sliced leek with a sprinkle of salt for 7-9 mins until the vegetables just start to weaken. Meanwhile mince 3 cloves of garlic, seed and dice the tomato and add them to the pot along with a pinch of salt, 1 tsp of dried herbs de provence (double if using fresh), and a few fresh cracks of black pepper and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add 2 cups each of vegetable stock and water and bring to a boil. Add ½ tsp salt and ⅔ cup of pasta and cook for 5 mins.
Meanwhile, combine the basil, parsley, garlic, a pinch of salt and about 12 grinds of pepper in a mini food processor and give 3 or 4 1-second long pulses, add 3 turns of EVOO, a dusting of grated cheese and blend until just combined (over blending can brown the pistou, so less is more) and adjust with more olive oil or cheese as desired. You want this pistou to be “tight” (not runny, but not dry either). Set aside for garnish.
After the pasta has been boiling for 5 mins, add the zucchini and green beans and continue to cook at a rolling boil for 3 mins, then add beans and cook for an additional minute. Stir in 1 tbsp of pistou to the soup, check the pasta/green beans for doneness and the soup for any additional seasoning. Once everything is tender, serve in a bowl with a garnish of pistou, a drizzle of EVOO and additional grated cheese.
Copyright 2020, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
Comments