Modified Soup Au Pistou

Me: We are having Soup Au Pistou and Pasta for dinner.
Hubby: But I am allergic to pesto.
M: It's not pesto, it's Pistou.
H: Say Wha...
M: Just eat it. It has no pine nuts.
H: Yummmm..
M: Thanks

I bought Ina Garten's Barefoot In Paris book and been wanting to try some recipes. I made a fresh batch of veggies broth yesterday and decided to make a soup. I found this Soup Au Pistou recipe in her book and since I am not a big fan of Saffron ( i do use it but not much) I decided to modify the soup a bit.
She adds saffron to this soup and I did not. I used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. For making the pistou, I used sun dried tomatoes instead of tomato paste. She adds the pistou on top of the soup as garnish but I mixed it in the soup and it was yummmmm....

Ingredients:
Leeks - 1 roughly chopped
Celery - 1 stick roughly chopped
Potatoes - 1 cubed
Carrot - 1 large cubed
baby french beans - around 20 9 I used frozen)
Olive oil - as needed
salt and pepper - to taste
vegetable broth - 2 cups
water - 4 cups


To make the Pistou:
Fresh Basil leaves - 1 bunch
Sun dried tomatoes in oil - 1/2 cup
Freshly grated parmesan cheese - 1/2 cup
Olive oil - 1/4 cup

Grind the above ingredients to a paste or do it in a food processor for a coarse texture.

Procedure:
- Heat olive oil in a soup pot.
- Add the leeks and saute till soft.
- Add remaining veggies except beans, season with salt and cook till tender.
- Add broth, water and bring to a boil.
- Add the pistou and beans and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Top it with a little freshly ground pepper and parmesan cheese and serve.