Soupe au Pistou

Name: Soupe au Pistou
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients: 1 cup mixed white and red dried beans; 1 large yellow onion, diced; 2 stalks celery, diced; 1 potato, peeled and diced; 3 ripe or one 15-ounce can tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped; 7 cloves garlic, diced; 3 teaspoons salt, or to taste; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste; 1 pound fresh green beans and other fresh beans, such as fava or wax, kept whole or halved crosswise; 2 large or 3 small zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and diced into half-moons; 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves; 1/2 cup pasta shells; 3 tablespoons olive oil; Grated Parmesan cheese

December 9, 2011

When I stayed at La Royante, a charming bed-and-breakfast in Aubagne just outside of Marseille, I tasted the delicious homemade jam from the fig, cherry, and apricot trees near the terrace, and enjoyed the olive oil made from the olives in the orchard. I talked with Xenia and Bernard Saltiel, the owners, and learned that Bernard is Jewish and traces his ancestry in France to about the thirteenth century, when his people became tax collectors for the king of France in Perpignan. Then they went to Narbonne, and finally to Montpellier, where a Saltiel helped found the University of Medicine. When the Jews were expelled from France, the Saltiel family moved to Greece, and lived in Crete, Macedonia, and then Thessalonika. Ever since Bernard’s grandfather returned to France in 1892, Saltiels have lived in the Marseille area. Today Bernard is a man of Provence, sniffing vegetables at the local market in Aubagne to make sure they are fresh enough for a good soupe au pistou. This soup originated in nearby Italy, most probably in Genoa. Provençal Jewish versions include a selection of dried beans as well as fresh green, wax, or fava beans, fresh basil, and an especially strong dose of garlic. Make it in the summer with perfectly ripe tomatoes. In the winter, I substitute good canned tomatoes.

Recipe notes