Recipe: French Bouillon Eateries, Part 7: Soupe au pistou
Part 7 in my French Bouillon series. The prologue for what the series is follows in bold. The recipes comes after.
One thing I find fascinating is that in countries such as France and Italy, there are specific classes of restaurants that serve specific types of cuisine as well as having a set décor and style of the restaurant itself. When I say cuisine, I don’t mean other ethnic cuisines, but rather, in France that serve different types of French fair or in Italy certain types of Italian food. In America, you can, of course, go to a Chinese restaurant or an Indian or a BBQ joint, but that doesn’t necessarily indicate the price point or the type of restaurant within those culinary traditions. In France, there are the small corner restaurants, Bistros, that generally serve French staples as well as moderately priced wine and other alcoholic beverages. In Italy, the cuisine I am the most familiar with there are the local small cheap restaurants, Osterias, and then the more formal, but still reasonable Trattorias, and finally the Ristorante, much more formal with secondi as well as pasta and antipasta. The closest thing we have to the French Bistro, or Italian Trattoria, is “the diner,” although even that changes names depending on your place in our nation. On the east coast, indeed they are called diners, but on the west coast we call them coffee shops, etc. When you visit a diner, you generally know the type of food available: breakfast all day-any way, burgers, and sometimes other blue-plate dinner specials: fried chicken, meatloaf, etc.
When you visit a French Bistro, generally you know you are going to be eating Bistro food at a restaurant that caters to the middle class / local neighborhood. French Bistros have caught on in America compared to other French eateries. Some of the Bistro staples have become commonplace: steak-frites, soupe a l’oignon, braised lamb shanks; however, in France, a “new” culinary wave is taking place: the revival of French Bouillons. I recently became aware of this because of an article by the New Times chronicling the revival and reviewing six of their favorite restaurants.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/travel/affordable-dining-in-paris.html
The term Bouillon comes from the French word for broth and certainly bowls of this simple comfort food would be expected in Bouillons. The restaurants started in the late 19th or early 20th century and were known for “a bargain-priced meal that promised to be surprising for both its quality and reasonable price: less than 20 euros, or about $23, for a three-course dinner with a glass of wine.” They are traditionally housed in large halls which allow them to serve a lot of people at lower prices with high turnaround. These Boullions were “working-class restaurants that thrived in Paris during the 19th century. ‘In an age of globalization, eating a meal at a bouillon is an affirmation of Gallic identity, since the comfort food we serve is so traditionally French,’ said Christophe Joulie, director of the Groupe Joulie, which owns and runs a number of brasseries in Paris, along with Bouillon Chartier, the 1896 vintage bouillon the company acquired in 2006.
By ‘traditionally French,’ Mr. Joulie was referring to dishes like marinated leeks, canard confit (duck preserved in its own fat) and choucroute Alsacienne (sauerkraut garnished with pork and sausage). ‘Everyone loves a bargain, especially at a time of economic uncertainty.’ he said. ‘A three-course meal of freshly cooked, on-the-premises food for 20 euros served in 30 minutes — has never been more popular.’ (So popular, that Mr. Joulie revived the original second address of Chartier near the Gare Montparnasse on the Left Bank in February.)”
And so, with that, I have decided to start my first cooking series on Gourmand Film Writer. Inspired by this article, I have decided to dive into French country food typically served at Boullions. As a means of saving money, many of the recipes use tough cuts of meat or reduce the amount of a protein in a meal to level out the cost. The food has been truly delightful. Fresh, complicated, and dare I say, new to me. It is indeed simple food, which in some respects remind me more of Italian cuisine, but there’s no mistaking that the flavor profile is truly French. Some of these recipes I have taken and altered from greats like Jacques Pepin; others I have been inspired by the recipe and tried my own editions.
Every country, every culture has a version of vegetable soup. My favorite may be minestrone which I’ve already posted my recipe (https://www.gourmandfilmwriter.com/home/2018/9/20/recipe-minestrone), but this Provencal dish is perfect in the late spring, early summer when it is hot and you want something simple.
The soup traditionally has pork in it or, at least, in the broth; my version only uses chicken broth, but vegetable broth could easily be substituted if you wanted to make it completely vegetarian.
In the traditional french version, pistou (a pesto) is stirred into the soup or put on top after plating. In this version, I made homemade ravioli and put the pistou in the ravioli. The vegetable mix can be anything fresh and available when the soup is made.
Soup
24-36 Ravioli depending on the size (see below)
½ lb of organic multi colored carrots
1 head of romanesco cauliflower
½ lb fresh peas shelled
1 bunch of broccolini
½ pint of cherry tomatoes
½ pint of mushrooms
8 cups of chicken broth (see below)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
For the soup, you could simply boil the vegetables in stock, but I like roasting them instead and then assembling the soup afterwards.
Begin by lining several sheet trays aluminum foil. Toss the carrots in olive oil, salt, and pepper and place on the sheet tray. Roast for 30-40 mins until soft.
For the broccolini drizzle with oil and salt and pepper, then roast for 20-30 minutes. When they are done, cut into bite size pieces.
Do the same with the cherry tomatoes, but only roast for 10-15 minutes until shriveled. Remove then.
Do the same with the mushrooms for 20-30 minutes or until nicely roasted.
For the romanesco cauliflower, cut the flowerettes off the stem and toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 20-30 minutes.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt after boiling. In a separate pot, also bring the stock to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the ravioli to the pot. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until they float. While the ravioli is cooking, place a large skillet on the stove. Place the butter in it and turn to medium heat. As the pasta finishes cooking, take it out with a slotted spoon and place into the skillet with butter. Toss together. Once all the ravioli are done, use a ladle to spoon hot broth into the skillet.
When plating, place the ravioli on the plate first, then a selection of roasted vegetables, and finally pour the broth on top.
Ravioli
(Dough)
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 pinch of salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 eggs
1 ½ tablespoons of water
(Filling)
1 (8-ounce container) of ricotta cheese
½ cup of Parmesan
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper
1 bunch of parsley
¼ cup of basil leaves
1 bunch of chives
1 tablespoon pine nuts roasted
2 garlic cloves
1 cup of olive oil
1 lemon
2 eggs
In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attached, mix the flour, salt, eggs and olive oil together. After it is mixed, then place the mixing bowl back into the stand mixer and turn to a medium speed. Add water a ½ teaspoon at a time (you may not need it) until the dough comes together into a ball. Allow the machine to knead the dough until smooth and elastic, generally 10 mins. At this point, the dough needs to rest. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to a 1 day.
When ready to roll out the dough, begin by first making the filling. In a food processor, add 2 cloves of garlic and the pine nuts. Pulse until slightly chopped. At this point, add parsley, basil, chives, juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper. Turn the food processor on. Then slowly begin drizzling in oil until it comes together as a thick pistou or pesto.
In another mixing bowl, place ricotta cheese, Parmesan, salt and black pepper, as well as the zest of the lemon and two eggs. Mix together. Then add the pistou to the filling and mix.
When ready to roll out the pasta, cut the dough into wedges and roll through a pasta roller according to the pasta roller’s directions.
Once the sheets of pasta are done, lay one flat on a floured surface. Then using a small spoon or ice cream scoop, place a small dollop of filling on the pasta. Crack an egg into a bowl and whisk together. Using a pastry brush, brush the dough that is around each dollop of filling. Place a second sheet of pasta on top of the first one, and carefully press around each dollop. Then use either a pasta cutter or a knife and then press the edges with a fork to separate each one. At this point, they could be frozen or they need to be cooked within a couple hours at most. Cover with a damp towel until ready to use.
Chicken Broth
1 whole chicken
1 cup white wine
2 sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
1 onion
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
Mushroom stems from the mushrooms for the Soup
1 leek
7 cups of water or broth
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon of salt
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Olive oil
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a bowl mix together all of the dry herbs and spices. Then place the raw chicken into a roasting pan. Take the spice mixture and liberally coat the entire chicken. Taking a drizzle of olive oil, drizzle over the chicken and then massage to really work into all of the crannies of the bird. Pour a ½ inch of water and a ½ cup of white wine in the bottom of the pan.
When the oven is preheated, place in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes and then turn the oven down to 350 and roast for another 1 hr.
Remove the bird. Please the bird into a pot and all of the juices that have cooked with it and accumulated on the bottom. To this add the rest of the white wine, onion, carrots, celery, mushroom stems, leek (cleaned), thyme, bay leaf, and water to cover. Then bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for 1 and a half to 2 hours.
Remove chicken and pick meat off the bone. It may be used for any purpose. Then strain the stock and place in a container and store in the refrigerator. When it has sat for a day, remove the fat from the stock and strain again through a coffee filter to take out as much of the impurities as possible. Can last a week in the refrigerator or frozen for future use.
