I love Provençal food. I learned this when I was in the South of France doing my internship for culinary school (called a “stage” en Français) and would hike – no joke— on the side of a highway on my days off to the neighboring town and eat in the restaurants with all the locals (mostly with the support staff at the inn/Michelin-starred restaurant where I worked). The flavors, to me, are the best parts of French cuisine with an Italian accent. This classic Provençal soup gets its name from a mashed basil and garlic sauce called “pistou,” essentially a pesto without the nuts (no cheese in this one, too, for the vegans!), that is stirred into a delicious vegetable soup. So, in a home a few miles to the south, this would be minestrone with pesto. I don’t care where it’s from—I just call it “delicious” and bet you will, too.
Serving Suggestions:
- Top with freshly grated Parmesan… or if you wanted to be all Provençal about it, a goat cheese “croute” would be excellent, which is a fancy way of saying goat cheese toast
- Scatter with pepper flakes and/or drizzle with olive oil
- Make an easy chickpea pancake (called a socca) that are typical from the South of France, gluten-free, and delicious!
Show me how you cook and serve it by emailing me your photo! Submissions are automatically entered to win a drawing for a Soup Club cookbook.
Yes, all this fun and love went into the recipe. That’s why it tastes so good.
