Nice in Nice and nice anywhere, anyway.
Ingredients:
½ pound leeks, trimmed, thinly sliced and washed
¾ cup peeled and chopped celery
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ pound potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup (rounded) peeled and diced eggplant
1 ½ cups trimmed and diced zucchini
5 to 6 cups water
2 teaspoons Maldon sea salt
3 cups chopped collard greens or green cabbage
3 cups washed and chopped spinach or chard leaves
Approx. 1 thumb’s thickness (1 ¾ ounces) spaghetti, broken into short lengths
¼ pound green beans, trimmed and cit into ¾-inch pieces
2 ½ cups canned haricot (navy) beans, drained and rinsed
Freshly ground pepper
For the pistou:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Large bunch of basil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3 tablesppons freshly grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese
Directions:
In a large pan or cooking pot, gently stew the leeks and celery in the olive oil until softened. Tip in the potatoes, eggplant, and zucchini, then pour in the water and add the salt. Bring up to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Now stir in the collard greens, spinach and spaghetti. Cook for another 10 minutes, then stir in the green beans, haricot beans, and pepper. Bring the soup up to a final, gentle summer and continue cooking for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until all is very soft, thick, and a nice dull-ish green color – as it should be.
For the pistou, simply puree all the ingredients together using a small food processor; or, if you are an artisan pistou maker, employ a mortar and pestle.
I like to eat this soup almost at room temperature, or at least warm rather than piping hot, with the pistou handed around separately so that each person can add as little or as much as they like. Serves 6
Excerpted with permission from The Vegetarian Option by Simon Hopkinson. Text copyright Simon Hopkinson. Photograph copyright Jason Lowe. Published in 2010 by Stewart, Tabori & Chang.
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