This week's French Garden recipe

People who know me would tell you that it's hard to tell which I like more: gardening or cooking. I'd say it depends on which I'm doing at the moment. Anyway, French cooking and French gardening go hand in hand. For me, cooking is an on-going adventure. Join me here on my culinary explorations, where I share with you both my old favorites as well as new inspirations. It's my fondest wish that these recipes serve as a springboard for your own new creations.

10/22/2001
Soup of fresh shell beans and winter squash with pesto(Soupe de haricots frais au potimarron et au pistou)

Ingredients:

Soup

2 lbs. shelling beans in their pods, shelled
1 prosciutto bone or heel of prosciutto or Bayonne ham (optional)
1 small winter squash, or 1/2 a large one (Kuri, Sweet Dumpling, Butternut, or other variety), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2" dice
1-2 bunches greens (turnip, collard, kale, chard, or a combination
2 T. olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced
6 c. water or chicken stock
1 bay leaf
6 parsley sprigs
Several sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs fresh winter savory (optional)
4 fresh sage leaves
1/2 t. cayenne or piment d'Espelette*
2 T. balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Pistou

1 large clove garlic, minced
Pinch of coarse sea salt
6 black peppercorns
1 smallish bunch basil
2 T. pine nuts
1/2 c. freshly grated Italian parmesan
1/2-1 c. extra virgin olive oil

Place the shelled beans in a heavy pot along with the ham or ham bone, 2 sage leaves and a couple of sprigs of thyme. Cover with water by about an inch and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, skim off any foam, and cook for 1/2 hour or until beans are barely tender. Remove the herbs. Remove the ham, cut into small bits, and return to the bean pot.

In a large enameled iron or earthenware beanpot or Dutch oven, gently saute the onion in the olive oil until softened. Add the minced garlic and saute several more minutes. Add the diced squash, the tomatoes and their juice, the beans and ham (if any), the water or stock, and the remaining herbs tied into a bouquet garni. Stir in the cayenne or piment d'Espelette. Bring to a simmer and cook with the lid ajar for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, roughly chop the greens and blanch them in boiling salted water for a couple of minutes. Drain them well and chop them again, more finely.

When the squash in the soup is soft but still intact and not falling apart, add the blanched greens. Cook gently for another 15 minutes.

Check and correct the seasoning and stir in the vinegar. Pass the pistou (below) at table. Serves 6 to 8.

Pistou

In a mortar, grind the garlic and basil to a paste with the salt and black peppercorns. Add the pine nuts and pound until mashed. Stir in the cheese and enough olive oil to make a saucy consistency. I like to serve this from the mortar in which it was made.

Notes:

*Piment d'Espelette is a smoky, spicy red pepper from the Basque region of France, available in some specialty shops.

Variations of this rustic soup are found throughout Mediterranean Europe. Consider this recipe a framework on which to hang your own variations. For instance, dried, soaked cannelini beans can be used in place of the fresh shell beans, but will require longer cooking. The ham can be omitted for a delicious vegetarian version. Pumpkin can be used instead of squash.

Best of all, if you have a fireplace grill or a way to hang a pot over a wood fire, you can cook this soup from the point of adding the squash onward in the fireplace. Cover the pot with foil, leaving a lip of foil open to direct smoke down into the pot. The resulting soup will have a rich, smokey flavor.

More like a stew than a soup, this dish needs no adornment to make a meal other than good crusty bread and a pungent green salad.

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Products of Interest:
Olive-wood mortar and pestle
Extra large Provençal olive-wood mortar and pestle
Vallée Noire stoneware conical soup tureen