Serves 8 to 10
• 2½ qts. water
• 1½ cups scrubbed, diced potatoes
• 1½ cups peeled, sliced carrots
• 1¾ cups cleaned, sliced leeks (white parts)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup sliced zucchini
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced or cut in strips
• 2 cups cut green beans
• 1½ cups cooked kidney beans
• ¼ cup dry bread crumbs
• ⅛ tsp. saffron
• pistou sauce
• 2½ oz. Parmesan cheese, grated (about ½ cup)
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• ⅓ cup pine nuts
• 1½ Tbs. dried basil or ¼ cup chopped fresh
• 4 to 5 cloves garlic
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• fresh-ground black pepper
1. In a large pot, combine the water, potatoes, carrots, leeks, and salt and simmer for 40 minutes.
2. Add the zucchini, red pepper, green beans, kidney beans, bread crumbs, and saffron. Simmer the soup for another 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the Pistou Sauce: Grate the Parmesan cheese and stir it into the tomato paste. Grind the pine nuts finely and add them to the tomato-cheese paste, along with the basil. Crush the garlic and stir it in. Finally, add the olive oil and process the sauce in a blender at high speed until it is perfectly smooth and homogeneous. Lacking a blender, pound all but the olive oil with a pestle or a wooden spoon until you have a smooth paste, then gradually beat in the oil. Season with pepper to taste.
4. Ladle out about a cup of hot broth from the soup and stir it into the pistou sauce. Now add the mixture to the soup, stir, and serve.
