By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- 4(225)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This is a big, simple soup made with winter vegetables – all diced small and thrown into a big pot with water and simmered for an hour. It’s garnished with the Provençal version of pesto, which does not contain any pine nuts. It makes a hearty meal.
Featured in: Winter Vegetable Soupe au Pistou
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Ingredients
Yield:Serves 8
- 2½quarts water
- 1large onion, finely chopped
- 4large garlic cloves, minced
- A bouquet garni made with a few sprigs each thyme and parsley, a Parmesan rind and a bay leaf
- ½small head green cabbage, shredded about ½ pound, or 4 cups
- ½pound winter squash, cut in ¾-inch dice
- 2large carrots, cut in small dice
- 2celery stalks, cut in small dice
- 2leeks, white and light green part only, cleaned and sliced optional
- 2medium turnips, peeled and cut in small dice
- Salt
- 1can white beans, drained and rinsed
- ½cup soup pasta, like macaroni or small shells
- freshly ground pepper
- 1batch pistou
For the for the Soup
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
176 calories; 2 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 34 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 1265 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
For the for the Soup
Step
1
In a large soup pot, combine all of the ingredients except the canned beans, pasta and black pepper and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for an hour. Taste, adjust salt, add pepper to taste, and stir in the canned beans (make sure they’ve been drained and rinsed).
Step
2
While the soup is simmering, make the pistou if you don’t already have some in your freezer.
Step
3
Add the pasta to the simmering soup about 10 minutes before serving, and cook until al dente. Taste and adjust seasonings. Ladle the soup into bowls and place a dollop of pistou in each bowl, or pass the pistou in a bowl and let people stir in their own. Pass additional Parmesan or Gruyère for sprinkling.
Tip
- Advance preparation: The soup can be made through Step 2 up to three days ahead, and definitely benefits from being made a day ahead.
Ratings
4
out of 5
225
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Cooking Notes
Sheila Mooney
Now, I did make small changes owing to what I had on hand - used a potimarron instead of winter squash (same diff), fresh white beans, a handful of fresh spinach leaves, no turnips, replaced them w green romano beans and threw in a wedge of chopped fennel. Though it is made w water, I find this soup to be pretty darn tasty, the cabbage/pumpkin/carrots lend great sweetness.
Floy Andrews
The Pistou recipe used to be included. Wondering where that went. Love the soup. But the Pistou is key!
AC
Fennel for celery. No squash.
deborah
my dutch oven was too small for all of the veggies, i didn’t use cabbage & one leek and the pot was full. i was nervous about it being too bland so i sautéed the onion, garlic and leeks before i added the other veggies and i added some veggie stock concentrate and extra herbs. also i cut all of the veggies quite small and they were (over) done in 20m. i did pasta separately (a good call anyway if you’re going to have leftovers or the pasta will get mushy). with s&p and pesto and parm it's great
Texas Katie
I made this exactly as specified. Very bland, as others have commented. I tried adding salt to no avail. Only by going really heavy on the pistou did this have any flavor.
Brittany
I found the flavor to be way too bland. I don't think I'll try this one again.
cody
Confused if the beans and pepper should be added after an hour of simmering or right after reducing heat to low
Kelly
So delicious and flavorful! I topped mine with homemade sourdough croutons and parmesan cheese, and of course the delicious pistou. It's definitely a 'project' soup in that it takes awhile to chop everything and get it simmering. I used my food processor to shred the cabbage, carrots, turnips, etc and that helped. Makes a huge batch of delicious, healthy soup!
Barbarark
Great use of farmer’s market root vegetables. Substituted parsnips for turnips, and topped the soup with arugula pesto. Surprisingly flavorful given that water, and not stock, was the base.
Clare
I cooked in stock (vs. water), added chopped ginger, and skipped the parmesan rind. Would experiment with adding a potato next time. So delicious and simple. Feels like a 'winter minestrone'. Loved throwing everything in together.
M in Upstate NY
This was really good. It did require a Herculean amount of dicing (slow chopper here), but was worth the time and effort. I used Brussel sprouts that I sliced in lieu of cabbage, butternut squash instead of turnips, forgot leeks but added some chopped fennel. 6 c of veg broth and 2 c water. Definitely use Parmesan rinds and finish with pesto. Perfect meal with crusty bread.
Marda
I liked this soup, but it’s very bland without the pistou. The Parmesancrusts are really important for flavoring, so don’t skimp on them. I put in 4 two inch pieces and that helped.
Nona
Can potatoes be substituted for the turnips, as most of my family dislike turnips? Crazy I know!
Nancy
I didn't see the recipe for the pistou -- could someone link it for me? Thanks. Would love to try this soup!
Chris Geiger
I skipped the winter squash and used rutabagas + a few extra carrots, also used organic chicken stock. Too lazy to make pistou so used some premade basil pesto. Pretty easy once the chopping is done, and will definitely make it again. Next time I might throw in some greens to round it out as a one bowl meal.
Nan
Used one more each of carrots, celery, and full small butternut squash; added another cup or so of water to cover
and replaced turnips with a rutabaga and a celeriac; passed on the pasta. Found it lovely after a day or two. Would consider adding some cumin. Definitely use leaks
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