Pasta Au Pistou Recipes

PROVENçAL VEGETABLE SOUP (SOUPE AU PISTOU)

Steps:

• Make soup:
• Cook leek, celery, carrot, garlic, and thyme sprig in oil with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 5-to 6-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables brown and stick to bottom of pot, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Add potatoes and chard stems with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add water and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up brown bits.
• Stir in edamame, zucchini, green beans, pasta, chard leaves, and 1/4 tsp salt and simmer, uncovered, until pasta is al dente and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Discard thyme sprig.
• Meanwhile make pistou:
• Heat a dry small skillet (not nonstick) over medium heat until hot, then char tomato on all sides. Core tomato, then purée with basil, parsley, and garlic in a food processor. Add oil and cheese and blend well.
• Remove soup from heat and stir in half of pistou and salt and pepper to taste. Serve soup with remaining pistou.

SOUPE AU PISTOU

Steps:

• Drain the white beans and combine with 2 quarts water in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Skim off any foam, then add half the onion, half the garlic and the bouquet garni. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add salt to taste.
• Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet, and add the remaining chopped onion and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add the leeks and remaining garlic. Stir together for a few minutes, and add the tomatoes. Cook, stirring, until the tomatoes have cooked down slightly and the mixture is fragrant, five to 10 minutes. Stir this mixture into the soup pot, add all of the remaining vegetables except the green beans, and bring back to a simmer. Cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes to an hour. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
• While the soup is simmering, blanch the green beans for five minutes in salted boiling water. Transfer to a bowl of ice-cold water. Drain and set aside.
• To make the pistou, mash the garlic with a generous pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle. Remove it and set aside. Grind the basil to a paste in the mortar, a handful at a time, then add the garlic back in and mix together well. Work in the olive oil a tablespoon at a time, then stir in the cheese.
• Add the pasta to the simmering soup about 10 minutes before serving, and cook until cooked al dente. Add pepper, taste and adjust salt. Stir the blanched green beans into the soup and heat through. Serve, adding a spoonful of pesto to each bowl for guests to stir in. Pass additional Parmesan for sprinkling.

THE MINIMALIST'S SOUPE AU PISTOU

Steps:

• Put beans, onion, carrots, celery and potatoes in a large saucepan with water to cover by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 60 minutes (dried beans will take longer to cook than fresh), adding a little more water if necessary. When beans are just about tender, add zucchini and tomatoes and simmer for another 20 minutes or so.
• Meanwhile, combine garlic, basil and olive oil in a food processor (or a mortar and pestle) until pasty; use a little more oil if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.
• About 10 minutes before serving, add pasta to soup and cook until tender but not mushy; season again. Serve soup, passing pistou and Parmesan at the table.

SOUPE AU PISTOU

Steps:

• 1. Place the green beans, carrot and potatoes in a large saucepan. Add 8 cups water and 2 teaspoons sea salt, bring to a boil and cook, covered, until the carrots are nearly tender through, a bout 12 minutes. Add the zucchini, the fresh beans (if using), and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Add the cooked dry beans (if using), and let cook until heated through, 3 to 4 minutes, then add the angel hair pasta and cook until it is al dente, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat.
• 2. While the soup is cooking prepared the pistou. Crush the garlic cloves with the salt in a mortar and pestle until they are a rough paste. Add the basil leaves and crush them with the mortar and pestle until they mix with the garlic into a rough paste. Slowly add the oil to the basil and garlic until you have a thick, deep green sauce.
• 3. To serve, divide the soup among six warmed shallow soup bowls. Serve the soup with the pistou and the cheese alongside.

PROVENCAL PASTA WITH BASIL AND ANCHOVY

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a full boil and add the pastam cooking tll al dente (for penne, about 12 minutes).
• On a cutting board, sprinkle the crushed garlic cloves with the salt and pepper.
• Using the back of a fork, mash the garlic into a paste.
• Add the anchovies and keep mashing.
• Scrape the paste into a mortar, add the basil, and begin pounding with a wooden pestle until the mixture resembles a puree.
• Now, add the oil slowly, pounding all the while with your pestle.
• Note: You can do this in a blender or food processor, but purists (like myself) will tell you that the pistou will not taste or look the same if the basil is chopped with a blade.
• When your pasta is ready, place your serving bowl (heat-proof)in the sink.
• Drain your pasta, allowing the pasta water to warm your serving bowl.
• Place the pasta in the bowl, add the pistou and toss well.
• Serve accompanied by freshly grated parmesan cheese.

ORLANDO BLOOM'S PASTA AU PISTOU

Steps:

• Cook the pasta according to directions until al dente, then drain and rinse. Pour the pasta back into the saucepan, and replace the lid to keep warm.
• In a blender or food processor, combine the parsley, basil, garlic, Parmesan, salt and 1 tablespoon of the oil. Process to a smooth paste.
• Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a medium frying pan. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes or until soft.
• Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and season, adding the brown sugar and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the herb mixture. Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve immediately.