Bean & Pistou Soup

Five ingredients and barely any cooking. Two cans of white beans simmered in chicken broth with a swirl of basil pesto and grated Parmesan produce a Provencal-style soup that tastes like it took all afternoon.

Pistou is the French cousin of Italian pesto, traditionally basil, garlic, and olive oil pounded in a mortar. Store-bought basil pesto works perfectly here and brings that same bright, herbaceous punch that defines this soup. Two tablespoons stirred in at the end keeps the basil flavor vivid rather than cooked out.

Rinsing the canned white beans removes the starchy canning liquid that can make the broth cloudy and gluey. You want clean beans that absorb the pesto-laced broth without muddying it.

The Parmesan stirred in adds salty, nutty richness that rounds out the simple broth. Freshly grated makes a real difference here since pre-grated Parmesan has fillers that don’t melt as smoothly.

Kitchen Tips

• Add the pesto off the heat or over very low heat. Boiling pesto kills the basil’s fresh flavor and turns it dull and brown.
• Use cannellini or Great Northern beans for the creamiest texture.
• A drizzle of good olive oil and a few cracks of pepper on each bowl turns this from quick to elegant.

Variations

• Add a handful of small pasta like ditalini or orzo for a heartier soupe au pistou.
• Stir in diced zucchini and green beans with the broth for a more vegetable-forward version.
• Use vegetable broth instead of chicken to make this fully vegetarian.