Raymond Blanc’s pistou soup
- Published: 5 Aug 22
- Updated: 25 Mar 24
Raymond Blanc’s simple, hearty pistou soup – combining lots of fresh vegetables in a flavoursome broth with a garlicky pistou– is a delicious summer starter or main.
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Serves 4 -
Hands-on time 30 min
Nutrition
- Calories
- 459kcals
- Fat
- 36.1g (7.7g saturated)
- Protein
- 9.8g
- Carbohydrates
- 20.5g (5.8g sugars)
- Fibre
- 6.8g
- Salt
- 0.4g
delicious. tips
“When cooking with olive oil, I generally use a good quality refined oil, which can tolerate a higher heat than extra-virgin olive oil. However, for this soup I use an extra-virgin oil as it gives a wonderful flavour and will only be heated gently.” Raymond Blanc
Next time: Vary the ingredients however you like, perhaps replacing one or more of the vegetables with spinach or swiss chard. Any pasta or pulse would also be a great addition to this soup, transforming it into a main course. You’ll need more garlic, of course!
The pistou can be prepared up to a week in advance and stored in a sealed jar in the fridge with a thin film of olive oil over the surface to keep it fresh. You can make the soup a few hours in advance and finish it at the last moment with the pistou.
Blanching and refreshing the basil leaves will fix the chlorophyll, preventing discolouration and ensuring the vivid green colour is retained. You’ll lose some of the perfume of the basil, but as there’s so much of it you’ll still have a wonderful flavour. (You can prepare the pistou without blanching the basil – it will taste wonderful but will soon oxidise and lose that bright green hue.)