A Very Green Soup
It’s true that a colour can inspire a dish. I suppose when you think about food as much as I do, sometimes the thought of flavour alone can become redundant. Sometimes a colour, in this case, green, is also a flavour and can be the starting point of a creation. Green feels young and fresh and new, so it makes sense that we would make something like this in the spring when everything green is sprouting. It is a bit of work to bring all the elements together and cook them perfectly, but it’s totally worth it.
And don’t skimp on the pistou (simply ‘pesto’ in French) either; it ties this soup together and enlivens a simple, clean broth made from water with its verdant herbal qualities.
Ingredients 18
Soup
150 g shallot, diced
150 g carrot, finely diced
2 tbsp green garlic, minced, see my tips
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
200 g green zucchini (courgette), finely diced
300 g borlotti beans, freshly cooked, in their liquid
200 g fresh peas
150 g broad beans, double-podded
150 g butter beans, thinly sliced
150 g asparagus, sliced
500 g spinach leaves, fresh, well washed
1.3 l water
Pistou
30 g pistachio nuts, toasted
1 tsp green garlic, minced
60 g basil, leaves picked, approx. 2–3 bunches
85 ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
25 g grated parmesan
3 cracks black pepper
salt, for abrasion
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Method 6
Make your pistou in a mortar and pestle. Start by pounding your to a fine crumb, then set aside. Add the and pound to a paste with a pinch of salt. Add the , one handful at a time, reducing that to a paste before adding more. Add another pinch of salt for more abrasion.
Next, add the crushed and mix them into the . Things should start looking a little creamier now. Start drizzling in the , little by little, mixing with the pestle as you go.
When all the is in, mix in the and , then set aside. You should have a fairly thick paste, but if it looks dry, add a little more olive oil.
Heat a stockpot over a medium–low heat and sweat the , and in the until soft and translucent but not coloured. Add the and bring to a simmer. Season with salt, but avoid making it too salty.
Add the and and simmer for 3–4 minutes until the zucchini is beginning to soften.
Add the and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add the , , and and simmer for another 2 minutes. At this point, the soup is finished. Ladle into bowls and top with a good spoonful of pistou and an extra drizzle of .
Danielle Alvarez's tips
Don’t try to make this pesto in anything but a mortar and pestle; you won’t achieve the same depth of flavour if you use a food processor. The act of crushing and pressing is completely different to a blade cutting through – it brings out the subtle oils and aromas from the ingredients.
Green garlic is just immature, not fully formed garlic. At the beginning of the season (mid winter and into spring), it is tender and soft and the entire plant is usable. Unlike garlic where you peel and use only the cloves, green garlic can be sliced up and used the same way you would green shallots or spring onions (scallions). As the season progresses, the bulb will begin to form, along with its cloves. Up until this stage, you can still slice and cook the whole thing. Once the cloves have formed, you’ll want to peel them back and use them as you would cured garlic, because the other bits will be dried and fibrous by then.
