Ingredients

• 2 stalks celery
• 2 carrots
• 4 tbsp/2½fl oz good-quality olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 2 small potatoes (such as Maris Piper)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 ready-made bouquet garni (such as thyme
• parsley
• rosemary and sage)
• 2 litres/3 pints 10fl oz water
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 200g/7oz canned haricot beans
• rinsed and drained
• large bunch fresh basil leaves
• 100g/3½oz parmesan
• 100ml/3½fl oz good-quality olive oil
• plus extra for drizzling
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Chop the celery and carrots into small dice.
• While you're chopping the vegetables
• heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the chopped celery and carrots to the pan.
• Peel the onion and chop into pieces the same size as the chopped celery and carrots. Add to the pan.
• Chop the potatoes into pieces the same size as the other vegetables and add to the pan.
• Lightly crush the garlic cloves with the heel of your hand and add the unpeeled cloves to the pan. Gently sweat the vegetables in the olive oil for a few minutes
• just to colour them slightly. Add the bouquet garni.
• Pour in the water and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and bring the soup to the simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes
• until the vegetables are just tender.
• Make the pistou. Place the basil leaves in a clean bowl. Roughly chop the parmesan and add to the bowl. Pour in the olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Blend to a smooth sauce with a hand-held blender (alternatively you could make the sauce in a mini-food processor). The sauce should be bright green and have a fairly smooth consistency (you may need to add more oil).
• Add the beans to the soup. Remove the bouquet garni.
• Cook until the vegetables are tender and the beans are heated through.
• To serve
• ladle the soup into bowls and swirl a spoonful or two of the pistou into each. Drizzle over some olive oil and serve with some good bread.