Saturday, July 21, 2018

Soupe au Pistou paired with Rosé #SoupSaturdaySwappers #Winophiles

Who says soup is only for the wintertime?  It would be a shame to miss out on all of the wonderful summer veggies available at Farmer's Markets across the Country right now.



This wonderful soup inspired by the Provence area of France is the perfect summer dinner choice. Especially when paired with a Rosé wine from the same region.

My friend Karen, of Karen's Kitchen Stories, is hosting our Soup Saturday Swappers event today.  Many times, the hosts of this group that I started, choose chilled or cold soups during the summer months to beat the heat.  Karen chose to have us use a slow cooker or crockpot to make our soups in an attempt to keep the house cool during this monstrous heat wave we've been having.  Great idea!!



I am also sharing this post with my French Winophiles group today courtesy of Teuwen, who provided each of us with 3 lovely bottles of Rosé from Provence. This event is being hosted by Lauren of The Swirling Dervish.  You can read her invitation post here.  All opinions, ideas and content of this post are 100% my own.

Combining these events made me decide to add a French twist to my soup.  I found this great Soupe au Pistou by Wolfgang Puck over at the Food Network website and adapted it for our Soup Saturday event.  It was an amazing pairing.



I also used my Instant Pot as a Slow Cooker for the first time.  I did this so that I could use the sauté setting and not dirty another pot.  I love that feature about the Instant Pot.


I am anxious to share my recipe and pairing but first I want to share the pairing I did with the first bottle of Provence Rosé that I opened.


I opened this bottle when our neighbors stopped by for a visit.  I put out some garlic herb cheese and crackers and Michelle had brought a delicious avocado tomato dip for which I really need to get the recipe. It was awesome.

This 2017 bottle of Urban Provence poured a salmon pink.  It is the only wine made on this 100 acre estate.  It is a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Rolle and ages in steel tanks.  I have never heard of Cinsault nor Rolle grapes.  This wine had a definite hint of elderflower.  It is dry and delightful by itself and paired reasonably well with our snacks.

I also enjoyed a second glass of this wine with BBQ chicken.  It was a nice pairing as well. 

Here is what the other Winophiles are saying about these Rosé wines from Provence.


The second bottle I opened was the Emotion that I paired with the Soupe au Pistou.  I will talk about that pairing in a moment but first I want to talk about the soup.


This is a wonderful Summer soup.  It has a wonderful assortment of seasonal veggies and herbs.  You start off sautéing leeks and garlic in olive oil.  Next you incorporate the carrots and celery.  You follow this with the broth, more veggies and a bouquet garni.  It is just layer upon layer of goodness.  When the flavors are all layered in the pot, you turn it to slow cook and walk away to go enjoy your day.


Shortly before you are ready to eat, you will make up a quick tomato pesto.  Some of this gets stirred into your soup and the rest is passed at the table for people to add as desired.


Let's see what the other Soup Swappers have cooked up in their Slow Cookers.




This bottle of Chateau Berne Emotion is a wonderfully dry wine that starts off with a bright acidity and then leaves a smooth buttery finish on the palate.  I really enjoyed it by itself as I prepared our dinner.  It was well rounded and complemented the fresh flavors in this soup.


The soup was a definite keeper.  The vegetables retained their crunch.  The pesto added a depth and richness to the soup that made you want to go back for seconds and thirds.

I haven't yet opened the third bottle but when I do I will share my thoughts and feelings either here on my blog or on social media.  You can follow all of the bloggers thoughts and feelings about these wines at the following sites.

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/inspirationrosewine/
https://www.facebook.com/EmotionRoseWine/
https://www.facebook.com/UPRoseWine/

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/inspirationrosewine/
https://www.instagram.com/emotionrosewine/
https://www.instagram.com/uprosewine/


#soupswappers, #slowcooker, #crockpot, #instantpot, #Vegetarian, #farmstand, #Frenchwinophiles, #winophiles, #Frenchwines, #winepairing,
Soup, First Course, Appetizer, Vegetarian, Instant Pot, Slow Cooker
French, Provence
Yield: 10Pin it

Soupe au Pistou

This wonderful soup inspired by the Provence area of France is the perfect summer dinner choice.
prep time: 20 minscook time: 4 hourtotal time: 4 hours and 20 mins

ingredients:

2 T. olive oil
3 leeks, green and light white parts, well rinsed and sliced into moons
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, scraped and sliced into 1/2" rounds
2 celery stalks, cut  into 1/2" slices
8 c. vegetable broth
salt to taste
10 whole peppercorns
handful of parsley stems
handful of thyme stems
12-15 green beans, trimmed and cut into thirds
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2" dice
1 summer squash, cut into 1/2" dice
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
6 garlic cloves, peeled
6 tomatoes, cut in half and seeded
1 bunch fresh basil leaves (about 30)
3-5 T. olive oil


instructions

Turn Instant Pot to saute setting and add 2 T. olive oil.  When Instant Pot beeps ready, add the leeks and garlic.  Let cook for 3-4 minutes, until leeks are translucent.  Add the carrots and celery, let cook for a few minutes longer.  

Place the peppercorns, parsley and thyme onto a piece of cheesecloth and tie shut.  Add to the Instant pot along with the vegetable broth.  Season with salt.

Add the beans, zucchini, squash and tomatoes with their juices.  Cancel the saute setting and press the button for slow cooking. The time should read 4 hrs. , if not set the time for 4 hrs.  Close lid with steam vent open or cover with the optional slow cooker lid.

When there is a few minutes left to the cooking time, place the garlic, fresh tomatoes, and basil into a food processor.  Pulse until combined.  Turn the processor on and, while running, drizzle in the olive oil until the pesto is smooth and thick.  Stir about a third of the pesto into the soup.

Ladle the soup into bowls, passing the remaining pesto at the table to be added to personal taste.


NOTES:

adapted from a recipe by Wolfgang Puck for Food Network.
Created using The Recipes Generator

17 comments:

  1. What a flavor-packed soup! This looks like a keeper. It will be coming to my house this fall. Don't you love the crispness of a nice Rose in the summer?

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  2. This is a favorite go-to soup of mine, comforting yet light. I could just sit with great bread, tomato Pistou pesto and a glass of rosé and be happy ;-)

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  3. That soup looks fabulous, Wendy! And I know how that wine tastes. Sound like a good match. Cheers.

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  4. I spent a week in Provence about 15 years ago, and we discovered the glory of its rosé. At the time, it was about $3 a bottle! So happy it has come into its own. Soupe au Pistou is perfect for summer!

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  5. What a great idea to make a pot of Pistou soup and pair it with rosé. The summer vegetables in the soup make for the perfect rosé pairing.

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  6. Soupe au pistou is a perfect match for rosé and I love that as a summer meal!

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  7. Soupe au Pistou and Provencal rosé? Doesn't get more classic than that! You've managed to put all of summer's bounty into one dish, and top it off with the perfect summer wine. Great idea!

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  8. I love soup au pistou and haven't had it in ages! Such a great reminder. I've also bee considering an Instant Pot. You'll have to tell me how you like it as you experiment with it further.

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    Replies
    1. I will Nicole as a matter of fact, I just posted a recipe for Instant Pot Baked Beans that turned out great.

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  9. I agree, soup is not just for winter. You pairings, also like the bbq chicken, sound delicious.

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