Provençal Soup's on for the end of summer (recipe!)
Provençal Soup's on for the end of summer (recipe!)
Plus a bonus dessert from across the Mediterranean, all in Ben Tish's broadly-scoped new book MEDITERRA
First, thanks to all of you — thousands of you, actually — for your response to my yogurt query. The question was, given that in my next book there’ll always be an American volume measure, 1 cup, would you prefer the second measure to be in grams (weight) or milliliters (most often used for liquids). And the 3:1 favorite was grams! I’ve gone back into my manuscript and “grammed” it — not without fretting about the difference between thick Greek and “regular” yogurt — and I think the problem is solved. I wish I’d asked you sooner — xoxo
Hello! Hello!
End of summer. Back to school. An early Labor Day behind us. All this when there are still gorgeous vegetables on the vine, corn at the farmstand and warm sunshine. It’s not quite sweater-weather and there’s no reason to rush it — there’ll be time for that soon enough. And so to celebrate this time, this bridge from one season to the next, I’ve got a recipe that’s as good for this in-between moment as a lightweight sweater tied around your shoulders (channeling my non-existent Jackie O. look). That it’s a soup is a surprise. That it’s Provençal Soup with Pistou makes sense.
Mediterra – A Book of Inspirations
I had this soup on my mind this summer, and as soon as saw a recipe for it in Ben Tish’s new book, Mediterra: Recipes from the Islands and Shores of the Mediterranean, I headed to the kitchen. But not before tagging a passel of other recipes — flatbreads from Syria and Lebanon, yeasted pancakes from Algeria, a pear and poppy seed torte from Slovenia, squid from Crete, plum granita from Sicily — including the Filo and Coconut Custard with Dried Fruits from Egypt, that I’ve included as a bonus for paid subscribers.
The range of the book is the entire Mediterranean — a culinary tour to make you dream and to encourage you: It’s a book to cook from all through the year.
Provençal Soup or Minestrone? Pistou or Pesto?
In his introduction to the recipe — the recipe’s full name is “Provençal Soup with young spinach, courgettes and white beans” — Tish nods to the soup’s limb on the family tree:
This soup from the south of France is both hearty and vibrant, with aromas of herbs and garlic and glistening with pools of yellow-golden olive oil. It’s the quintessential Mediterranean recipe, not at all dissimilar to the Italian summer minestrone of Liguria and Genoa. You get an instant hit of the garlic aroma as the pistou hits the hot soup. This is what elevates it above so many other vegetable soups.
As with most soups in this clan, you’ve got a garden’s worth of vegetables and some pasta, too. In Tish’s recipe, the pistou is made with garlic, basil, olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese. No pinenuts — that’s for Ligurian pesto — although, in the privacy of your own kitchen, there’s no one to tell you not to add nuts. There isn’t even anyone to tell you not to use readymade pesto.
Scroll down for the recipe — it’s beautiful, delicious, easy, fast and just right for now.
And scroll further for the custard recipe — it’s made with crumpled filo, which is fun to work with and makes for a great dessert.
I’m Packed for Paris
I’m convinced that all of your good wishes — I really don’t know how to thank you for your thoughtfulness, it was overwhelming — time, physical therapy and Michael’s care and patience (such patience!) have healed my broken kneecap and gotten me back in shape. I’ve got to be cleared by the doctor, but if all goes well, Michael and I will be leaving for Paris soon. I can’t wait to be back and can’t wait to share my Paris adventures with you. Fingers crossed.
Until then — cook, bake, be happy and be in touch.
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PROVENÇAL SOUP
with young spinach, courgettes and white beans
Adapted from Mediterra by Ben Tish
GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START
Courgette: That’s the British term for zucchini; also the French term.
White beans: While you could use fresh beans or dried beans, Tish helpfully suggests canned cannellini beans.
Broad beans: Again, Tish makes it easy and suggests frozen beans. Mary Dodd tested the recipe with lima beans. You can certainly use fresh beans, even green beans.
Spinach: You want the greens, but the greens could be chard or even kale (which might need to be a cooked a tad longer) .
Olive oil: You’re going to taste it, so choose an oil you like.
Pistou: Tish makes his with a mortar and pestle and that’s the most traditional way. I give you permission to use a processor or blender or, to make it really easy, to buy readymade pesto. You might want to add more oil to store-bought pesto to loosen it — up to you.
Mixing it up: Think of this recipe as a template — if you don’t have a couple of the vegetables, use what you’ve got. My favorite addition to Provençal Soup is completely untraditional: corn! It’s good to have beans of some kind, pasta of some sort and greens. Fiddle away, just be sure you have olive oil and pistou/pesto. Oh, and garlic — it’s part of the soup’s character. If you want to use less, do. I doubt that you’ll need more.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
For the pistou (see above)
4 large garlic cloves, peeled
Sea salt
1/2 bunch of basil, about 2 1/2 cups leaves
50 ml (about 1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
15 grams (1/2 ounce) Parmesan cheese, finely grated
For the soup
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 fresh bay leaves (or 1 dried)
2 fresh thyme sprigs
50 grams (about 2 ounces; about 2 very small) new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2-cm (1/4 inch) dice
2 slender courgettes/zucchinis, quartered lengthwise and diced
1 plum tomato, roughly chopped
200 grams (7 ounces) tinned white coco or cannellini beans, rinsed
30 grams (about 1 ounce) dried pasta, such as spaghetti, broken into bite-sized pieces, or ditalini
A good handful of baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped (see above)
100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) frozen broad beans, defrosted and grey “jackets” removed (or other beans; see above)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
DIRECTIONS
First make the pistou: Using a pestle and mortar (see above), pound the garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt. Add the basil and a splash of extra virgin olive oil and continue pounding to make a green paste. Now stir in the remaining oil and Parmesan. Set aside.
To make the soup: Heat a large splash of olive oil in a large saucepan over a low-medium heat. When it is hot, add the garlic, onion, bay leaves and thyme sprigs, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the onion is soft but without colour.
Add the potatoes and courgettes, season and cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes to soften, stirring occasionally as you go. Add the tomato and pour in cold water to just cover everything (about 3 cups). Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Add the white beans and continue simmering for a further 5 minutes.
Stir in the pasta (you might need to add another cup of water — we did) and boil for 10 minutes or so until it is al dente — the soup will become quite thick with the starch from the pasta. Stir in the spinach, broad beans and a good splash of olive oil. Cook for no more than 2 minutes, or until the spinach wilts and the beans are hot. Remove the bay leaves and the thyme. Season to taste and turn off the heat.
Divide the soup among serving bowls with the pistou served on the side, to be stirred into the soup just before eating.
FILO AND COCONUT CUSTARD
with dried fruits
Adapted from Mediterra by Ben Tish
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