Late Summer Vegetable Soup

My whole household is fighting a summer cold right now, and I wanted something hearty that would be appealing for several meals over the next few days.  I decided to build a main dish around fresh green beans, while also including lots of other fresh seasonal vegetables.  The end of summer means that a plethora of New World vegetables are all in season simultaneously, not only several varieties of bean, but also tomatoes, potatoes, and zucchini.

Starting Point: Soupe au Pistou by Caroline Bretherton.

Soupe au Pistou is a Provençal dish made using summer vegetables and pasta, so it seemed well-suited for my purposes. Preparing New World variants of Mediterranean dishes is always a interesting challenge. On the one hand, many of the vegetables strongly associated with contemporary Mediterranean cooking--such as tomatoes, peppers, and squash--originate from the Americas.  On the other hand, without signature flavorings such as garlic and basil, Mediterranean dishes made with New World ingredients rarely have the distinctive flavors such dishes normally possess.

Pistou is a mashed garlic sauce that is traditionally prepared separately in a mortar and pestle and then spooned onto the soup at the time of serving.  Separate prepataion is less essential when excluding the customary parmesan cheese from the sauce, but I went ahead and did it anyway for this variation.

I started with a bunch of green onions (8-9), which are my usual substitute for ramps. I finely chopped the white and light green parts only, then mashed them in a large prep bowl with some kosher salt. I then peeled and chopped two tomatoes and drained away a majority of the liquid.  I added the tomatoes to the onions, as well as 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil, and 1/4 cup of finely ground pecans.  The pecans add an extra dimension of flavor to the sauce, and make up a bit for the absence of cheese. It's possible to make a closer vegan parmesan analogue using nuts, salt, and nutritional yeast, but I didn't have any of the latter on hand.

For the soup, I first quick-soaked 2 cups of dried navy beans for an hour, and then boiled them in water for 15 minutes. After draining the beans, I threw them in an extra-large saucepot with the vegetables: three more peeled and chopped tomatoes, four medium chopped zucchini, two medium diced russet potatoes, and about half a pound of sliced fresh green beans.  I covered the beans and vegetables with water, added plenty of J&D's Bacon Salt, and simmered (covered) for a little over an hour. I then added about 4 ounces of Ancient Harvest Gluten-Free elbow macaroni, which is made with a quinoa and corn flour blend (I found mine at my local Dierbergs supermarket). I kept simmering the soup for about another 8 minutes, until the pasta was al dente.

This soup should be served right away. Salt to taste and spoon on the sauce. Good stuff.