Pistou soup is a traditional French recipe from the Southern region called Provence. This vegetable soup is at the same time healthy and comforting, which in my opinion, makes it the perfect soup.
This stove top soup recipe is jam packed with veggies which makes it a healthy meal choice. Prepare your favorite Dutch oven to make this delicious and flavorful French soup.
Not only is this soup easy to make but everyone will love it. Even those who are not on a "free from" diet!
Well, due to the basil and zucchini used in this recipe, it is a summer recipe. Although autumn has started to kick in France, I still have quite a lot of fresh basil on my balcony and zucchini are still growing in gardens and being sold at the market. So I really wanted to share this recipe with you before the end of the basil and zucchini season.
What is Pistou?
Pistou (pronounced peestoo) is the French version of the famous Italian sauce called Pesto. Pistou and pesto are two pretty similar sauces (well Provence and Italy are very close). The French traditional pistou differs slightly from the Italian pesto: it has no pine nuts and no parmesan (which is an italian cheese).
Ingredients for the soup
- leek
- onion
- carrots
- zucchini
- celery stalks
- extra virgin olive oil
- basil pistou/pesto (you can check my recipe here)
- water
- short grain free pasta (omit if you are on whole30 and be careful choosing compliant pasta if you are on AIP or paleo)
- bay leaf
- thyme
- salt to taste
- optional ingredient : precooked or canned red beans (omit if you are on AIP, paleo or whole30)
Other soup recipes
If you are looking for other soup recipes you can check those:
- Chicken noodle soup (Coconut free, AIP, paleo)
- Carrot and coconut soup (AIP, paleo, whole30)
- Cold zucchini soup (AIP, paleo, vegan)
Pistou soup (AIP, paleo, vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 leek
- 1 onion
- 2 large carrots
- 1 medium zucchini
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 L water (or vegetable stock)
- 4 tablespoon basil pistou/pesto (you can check my recipe here)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of thyme
- pinch of salt
Optional ingredients
- 100 g short grain free pasta (omit if you are on whole30 and be careful about choosing compliant pasta if you are on AIP or paleo)
- 100 g precooked or canned red beans (omit if you are on AIP, paleo or whole30)
Instructions
- Peel and dice the onion and make it sweat on medium heat in the olive oil in a Dutch oven.
- In the meantime, peel and slice the carrots. Wash the leek, celery stalks and zucchini carefully. Cut all the vegetables into bite size. Transfer them to the Dutch oven along with the thyme, bay leaf and pinch of salt. Pour the water (or broth) on the whole thing. Cover the Dutch oven.
- Let it cook for about 30 minutes.
- Add the optional red beans and noodles. Let the noodles cook according to instructions written on the package, probably around 5 to 10 minutes (this might change slightly from one brand to another and depending on the type of noodles you are using). Add the pistou/pesto to the soup right before serving. And voilà.Bon appétit !
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