This is such a simple soup, and with just a few special ingredients it is transformed into high class fair. It has a very fancy name of course, Pottage Soissonais, what it really is though is a white bean soup.
Pottage Soissonais
(serves 12 as a soup course, 6 as a meal)
3 cups white navy beans
18 cups liquid, seperated in 6 cup water, 6 cup water, and 6 cup strong broth measures
3 cups mirepoix (mix of onions, carrots and celery, ratio of 2:1:1)
1 tbsp dry thyme, rubbed
1 tbsp dry oregano, rubbed
2 bay leaves
2 whole garlic cloves
*Where possible, use freshest ingredients possible, but dry ingredients work well in winter.
Clean and soak the beans in the first 6 cups of water as directed on the package.
Once the beans have been soaked, pre-cook the beans in the second 6 cups of water with the remaining ingredients, until the beans are soft. Add more water if necessary.
Once the beans are cooked and most of the water absorbed, add the broth. Bring to a boil. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if desired. Once the soup is prepared, remove the bay leaves and blend thouroughly with a hand blender, or in batches in a regular blender.
Now here are the 2 optional ingredients that take this regular soup from everyday fair to wow.
1/4 tsp pesto
a few drops of cream
Once you serve the soup into bowls, gently drop the pesto in the center, and drop an odd number of cream around the pesto. Take a sharp knife or a toothpick and drag it through the drops of cream to create little hearts. With only 3, 5, or even 7 drops of cream per bowl, this is a very healthy and luxuriously delicious soup. Once served at the table, stir the hot soup and enjoy.
