#pistou

Pistou is essentially pesto without the pine nuts. Instead of using Italian basil in the pistou, I used mint and I love how this works with eggplants. Light, refreshing, and zippy.

I don’t normally use the word zippy, but it feels like the right descriptor.

Made some purple pistou*!

Not as purple as I hoped, but I didn't have enough of the purple basil

Recipe

- 2 or 3 cups of basil leaves. I used about half purple and half green.

- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

- 2 or 3 cloves of minced garlic.

- 1/3 cup olive oil.

- 1 squeeze of lemon juice.

- Salt and pepper to taste.

Put basil, minced garlic, and parmesan cheese in a food processor and chop fine. Slowly add olive oil until it is fully integrated.

Sprinkle in salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

Store in air-tight container, like a jar, in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Soupe Au Pistou | Jody Williams

Ingredients

2 cups dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight and drained or can

2 celery stalks, diced

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced

1 fennel bulb, including the light green stems, diced

(1)15-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, seeded if you like and chopped

6 large outer escarole leaves, torn into pieces (or hardy green, like kale)

1 large handful green beans, trimmed and cut in half crosswise

1 leek, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

2 small zucchini, diced

Pinch red chili flakes, plus more as needed

Coarse salt

2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and dried

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

Instructio

Place the soaked beans, all of the vegetables, the chili flakes, and 2 teaspoons of salt into a large soup pot. Cover with cold water, then add 2 additional cups of water.

Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat, and allow it to simmer until the beans are tender, about 1 hour, adding more water as the soup cooks if it gets too dry or too thick at any point. Season the soup to taste with additional salt and chili flakes, if necessary.

Meanwhile, place the basil leaves in a mortar and use a pestle to crush them with 2 teaspoons of salt. Work in the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the olive oil to make a coarse paste. Alternatively, you can pulse the basil, salt, and Parmigiano-Reggiano together in a food processor and stream in the olive oil to make the paste. Either way, season the pistou with additional salt, if necessary, and set it aside. A thin layer of olive oil poured on top will prevent the pistou from browning.

Serve the soup hot, topped with a generous drizzle of olive oil, a big spoonful of the pistou, and a handful of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Notes:

1) Making the pistou can be as simple as stuffing fresh basil, Parmesan, and a pinch of salt into a mini-food processor, then drizzling in olive oil as you blend (which can even be done one-handed, as you can see in the video above)—although some swear by the beautiful results of pounding a pistou in a mortar.