Soup with Pistou

Ingredients

• 1.5 liters water
• 375 grams green beans
• 3 medium potatoes
• 2 whole tomatoes
• 10 grams salt
• 180 grams thick egg pasta (vermicelle)
• 2 small cloves garlic
• 4 grams basil (fresh)
• 2 halves tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons soup broth
• 75 grams Gruyère cheese

Instructions

1. Bring 1.5 liters of water to a boil. Add the green beans (topped, tailed, and cut into short lengths), the potatoes (quartered and sliced), the tomatoes (peeled, pressed, and chopped), and the salt.
2. When the vegetables are three-quarters cooked, add the thick pasta and finish cooking very gently, stirring often to prevent the thick broth from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
3. While the soup finishes cooking, pound together in a mortar 2 small cloves of garlic, the basil, and 2 halves of peeled, pressed, and grilled tomato. Slowly incorporate 2 tablespoons of oil into this paste in a thin stream, then thin it with 2 tablespoons of the soup broth.
4. Pour the soup into the tureen and stir in the garlic-basil mixture (pistou), then add the grated Gruyère cheese. Serve at once.