French · Authentic-ish French
Soupe au Pistou
447 kcal a serving, against 615 for the traditional version. That is 168 kcal off, or 27%, with 36.7g of protein. Serves 6. 50 minutes.
What the traditional version is
A thick broth made by boiling fresh tomatoes, courgettes, green beans and potatoes. Tinned white beans and kidney beans go in for bulk, alongside a generous handful of dried pasta. Once the soup is cooked, you hammer fresh basil, garlic, parmesan and a vast quantity of olive oil in a mortar and pestle until it forms a loose paste. This gets stirred through the hot soup right before serving.
What changed, and what each change costs
120g of olive oil down to 20g
You don't need a massive slick of oil to carry the flavour of basil and garlic. I use a tiny splash of oil to help the blender catch, and thin the paste with hot chicken stock instead.
What it costs you. The soup loses that luxurious, mouth-coating texture, and the pistou dissolves into the broth rather than floating in rich little puddles. That's exactly what happens when you remove 100g of pure fat.
Dropping 300g of potatoes and halving the pasta
Beans are already carrying a massive starch load. Doubling down with potatoes and a large handful of pasta is just a recipe for a mid-afternoon crash.
What it costs you. The soup is less thick and comforting. You'll get less of that soft, starchy rubble at the bottom of your bowl.
Adding 400g of chicken breast
A traditional pistou soup relies entirely on beans and cheese for its substance. By poaching lean chicken breast in the broth and shredding it, you massively increase the nutritional value without adding any fat.
What it costs you. This is the first and only time I will say this: it stops being a true Provencal vegetable soup. It becomes a chicken soup with a basil finish.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 615 | 447 |
| Protein | 26g | 36.7g |
| Fat | 27.9g | 11.5g |
| Saturated fat | 5.7g | 3g |
| Carbohydrate | 68g | 50.4g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 4.2g | 8.2g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish French prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. gluten, milk, celery.
The method is in the book
A massive, hearty chicken stew with a brilliant hit of raw garlic and basil, then. Not a delicate vegetable broth, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. You lose the rich oil slick that usually coats your lips, but you can't deny how incredibly filling the shredded chicken makes it. Once you've stirred in that bright green paste, the fresh tomatoes and the sharp basil keep everything tasting exactly like summer in France.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish French, along with 54 more. Buy the paperback