Do You Like Pistou? Soup for You!

I loooooove pistou.

I used to eat lunch regularly in the late nineties and first couple years of the new millenium at a small, charming restaurant owned by a chef from North Africa with French ancestry. He made some really delicious fresh dishes, including a mozzarella with tomato salad that used a lovely, fresh, clean pistou. (His house specialty chicken is something I still miss in the years since it closed, due to, I believe, his illness.)

I got the following South Beach Diet recipe for Soupe au Pistou in my email box this week, and I had to save it as soon as I saw "Pistou." :)

Maybe you'd enjoy it as well. Here ya go:

Soupe au Pistou

Serves 8

Ingredients

Soup
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
Salt and black pepper
1 large can (48 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 can (15.5–19 ounces) white or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
2 medium zucchini, quartered length-wise and sliced
1 medium yellow squash, quartered
1 dried bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 pound green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)

Pistou
3 medium garlic cloves, halved
3 cups packed fresh basil leaves (2.5 ounces, from 2 medium bunches)
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Note
The pistou makes about 1/2 cup, so you aren't using the full 5 tablespoons of oil in the soup. Each serving receives only 1 tablespoon of the mixture.

Instructions
Warm oil in large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leeks; cook about 3 minutes, until softened, stirring. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds more, stirring. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in next 7 ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes; uncovered. Add green beans to pot; simmer 6 to 8 minutes longer, until tender. Meanwhile, make pistou: In a blender or food processor, process garlic until finely chopped. Add basil and salt; process until basil is finely chopped. Scrape down sides of bowl. With the machine running, gradually pour in oil. Add cheese; process to blend. Ladle hot soup into serving bowls. Swirl 1 tablespoon pistou into each bowl.

Make-Ahead Tip Soup can be made 1 day ahead; pistou can be made 2 days ahead. Refrigerate both, tightly covered. Add pistou after heating soup.

Nutritional Information
159 calories 12 g total fat (2.6 g sat)
5 mg cholesterol
8 g carbohydrate
7 g protein
1.3 g fiber
377 mg sodium