Pistou Soup

My mom brought this recipe back from a cooking class in Provence. Pistou is the French word for pesto. This is a wonderful tasting fresh vegetable soup. We've made it 3 times in just one month! It is so easy, healthy, filling, and delicious (better the next day). Can be served as a dinner meal with some crusty bread and wine.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 60 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins
• Calories: 456 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 cups water
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup shredded Gruyere cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) package spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces
• 1 (15.5 ounce) can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 bunch basil, leaves picked from stems
• 3 quarts vegetable broth
• 2 cups fresh green beans - rinsed, trimmed, and snapped into bite-size pieces
• 4 zucchini, cut into small cubes
• 3 carrots, cut into bite size pieces
• 4 potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Bring the vegetable broth and water to a boil in a large pot. Stir in the green beans, zucchini, carrots, and potatoes. Return to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 45 minutes.

Step 2

Meanwhile, prepare the pistou by processing the basil leaves, garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, and salt together in a food processor until finely chopped; set aside.

Step 3

Stir the kidney beans, white beans, canned diced tomatoes, and spaghetti into the soup and return to a simmer. Cook until the spaghetti is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the pistou. Sprinkle with Gruyere cheese and Parmesan cheese to serve.