Pistou Soup - French Minestrone

Ok ... I'm really loving The Essential New York Times Cookbook. I've made three recipes from the book so far and each has been delicious.

Last night I made Pistou Soup, which according to the cookbook is a sort of French minestrone. I've been using the same minestrone soup recipe for years and while it's good, hubby was never a big fan, and to be honest it was good but not great. I decided to give this recipe a try and it was a winner, passing the hubby seal of approval which is a big deal when it comes to soups. We both thought the soup was full of flavor ... maybe even a bit surprised by how yummy it was!

This soup is really wonderful and just as scrumptious the next day as leftovers .... I'm having some right now as I type. I made the soup vegetarian by using veggie broth rather than chicken broth.

Pistou Soup

1 TBS olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 - 2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 turnip, peeled and diced
4 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (I used veggie ... your choice)
1 TBS salt
2 large white potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large leek, white and pale green parts only, diced and rinsed well
1 zucchini, diced
2 handfuls green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used frozen)
2 TBS finely chopped parsley
2 TBS finely chopped basil (wrong season for fresh basil, I used 1 TBS dried)
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 large tomatoes, peeled, cored seeded and chopped (uh ... I just cored and chopped)
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup undrained canned white beans ( I used 16 oz can of cannelloni beans)
1 handful thin spaghetti broken into thirds
freshly ground pepper

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 3 minutes. Add the carrot and turnip and cook 1 minute. Stir in the water and broth, bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.
2. Add salt, potatoes, leek, zucchini and green beans. Simmer 20 minutes, skimming foam from surface if needed.
3. While the soup simmers, combine the parsley and basil in a medium bowl. Stir in garlic, tomatoes and live oil. Set aside.
4. Stir in beans and spaghetti into the soup. simmer 8 minutes.
5. Stir in the tomato mixture into soup, season with salt (if needed ... I did not add any more salt), pepper and simmer 2 minutes longer.

Enjoy!