A Hungry Bear

My mom used to make homemade vegetable soup as a way of cooking as many of our garden vegetables as possible (she was so resourceful - canning and freezing the vegetables in the summer, so we’d have them for soup during the winter!). I can imagine moms in France cooking this soup for their kids, without the American twist of adding ground beef.

I saved this recipe from a May 2009 issue of Gourmet, but only this past week did I realize that my CSA delivery had included almost every vegetable that it calls for. Finally, the perfect time to try it!

Grocery list: 2 small leeks, 2 celery ribs, 1 carrot, 2 garlic cloves, 2 thyme sprigs, olive oil, 1/2 pound small potatoes, 1 bunch swiss chard, 1 zucchini, 2 cups frozen shelled edamame (I had about a cup of shelled peas that I substituted for half of the edamame), 3/4 cup dried pasta shells, 8 cups of water and/or chicken stock. For the pisto, you’ll need 1 cup grated Gruyere, 2 garlic cloves, 1 cup basil leaves, 1/2 cup parsley leaves.

Start by prepping the vegetables: peel the carrot and chop into 1/2 inch pieces, cut the celery, wash and thinly slice the leeks, chop the garlic clove.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large dutch oven or soup pot. Add the leek, carrot, garlic and celery, plus the thyme sprigs and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prep the chard. Separate the leaves from the stems. Chop the stems into bite-size pieces, and slice the leaves (easiest to do when you roll them up first).

Chop the potatoes and zucchini into 1/2 inch pieces.

Add the potatoes and zucchini to the pot along with a pinch more salt, and cook for 5-10 minutes more until the vegetables are starting to soften.

Add the peas and edamame to the pot.

Stir in 8 cups of liquid - the original says water, but I had a quart of chicken stock so I used that plus 4 more cups of water. Turn up the heat to high and bring to a boil.

When the soup is boiling, stir in the chard leaves and pasta shells. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked. Remove from the heat - fish out the thyme sprig and discard.

While the soup is finishing, make the pistou. In a food processor, puree 2 garlic cloves with the basil and thyme leaves until you have a paste. Blend in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Stir this mixture into the cup of grated gruyere.

It won’t look like a ton of pistou, compared to how much soup you have, but a little goes a long way. To serve, put a small spoonful of the pistou in the bottom of a soup bowl, then ladle the soup over top. Top with a garnish of another drop of pistou. It doesn’t take much to have a big impact - it’s full of salty herb-y good flavor.