Soupe au Pistou Provencale

This is a meat-free vegetable soup from the south of France. It is delicious, flavorful and satisfying, especially in the winter. You may be surprised to find most of the ingredients you need are already in your kitchen.

















Soupe

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups onions, sliced in thin half-moons
2 cups leeks (white & light green parts), sliced thin
3 cups diced red and or Yukon gold potatoes
4 large peeled thinly sliced carrots
kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. black or white freshly ground pepper
8 cups homemade vegetable or chicken stock (or 2 cans low-sodium broth and 2 cans water)
4 cups water
1 tsp. saffron threads
12 oz. hericots verts, trimmed and halved
4 oz. ditalini or other small pasta

Prepare the vegetables.

































In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil until hot. Add the onions. Season with kosher salt. Saute for 10 minutes or until translucent. Do not brown the onions.



















Add the leeks, potatoes, carrots, a couple full teaspoons kosher salt and pepper and saute over medium heat for 15 minutes.



















Add the chicken stock & saffron, bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.















Add the hericots verts and pasta and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Depending on how salty your stock is, you may need to add up to a full tablespoon of kosher salt. Remember, though, the pistou paste is rich.



















To serve, whisk 1/4 cup of the pistou (below) into the hot soup. Serve the remaining pistou at the table for guests to season according to taste. Pass Parmesan with this and serve with a crusty French baguette.

Pistou



















4 large, peeled garlic gloves
1/4 cup tomato paste
24 large basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup good olive oil

Place all ingredients but the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. Puree.



















With the motor running slowly pour the olive oil down the feed tube to make a paste. To serve and store, place in a non-porous container and cover with a film of olive oil.

Pasta and Lentil Stew

I am in a Worship class at LSTC in Chicago. For our retreat, we, as a group, engaged and conducted the Triduum services (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter) all in one November Saturday. For our supper, we were each asked to contribute a simple dish. I was a little apprehensive at first. The idea of making soup first thing Saturday morning to take to nine hours of church seemed to be too much. Really, though, the retreat turned out to be a wonderful, transformational experience. I would even call it a "heart-warming" John Wesley-esque conversion experience. So, what does one make for Easter in November? (My teacher reminded us that having Easter in the autumnal season is really no big deal; Christians in the Southern Hemisphere do it every year!) This stomach-warming dish is what I brought. It seemed to go over well, or else my classmates are just too friendly. Regardless, this is a savory, hearty and very healthy stew. It is chock full of fiber from the vegetables and lentils. It is also impossible to mess up. Give it a try.

1/2 cup olive oil, filtered or unfiltered
2-3 leeks or 1-2 large onions, halved and sliced thin
1 pound carrots or baby carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4" slices
1/2 pound celery, diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups (1 bag) lentils
12 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
4 Tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups homemade or low-salt vegetable, beef, chicken or veal broth
4 cups water, possibly more, if needed
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound ditalini

First, prep all your vegetables according to the list above.



Heat a huge pot over high heat. Once hot, add the olive oil. Then add the leeks, carrots and celery. Cook for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften/sweat, but don't brown them. Add the garlic, stir and cook another 1-2 minutes. Never burn garlic.



Stir in the lentils and tomatoes, hand crushing as you add them. Stir in the tomato paste, broth, water, salt and pepper. Cook at a steady simmer for 45 minutes to one hour.

In the meantime, cook the ditalini in well salted water (1+ Tbsp kosher salt per gallon of water) to al dente. Drain and set aside.



Taste the lentils to see that they are tender. When the lentils are finished, the broth will thicken some and form a nice sauce.



Add the pasta to the lentils and stir to distribute evenly.

Serve with plenty of fresh Parmesan cheese for topping and a warm, crusty baguette.

Serves: one army with leftovers.