In this pasta dish is inspired by the Provencal Soupe au Pistou. The flavors are fresh and bright with plenty of basil. I am serving giant grilled prawns on top.
You could add extra vegetables like, carrots, celery and green beans as well as 2 more quarts of water to have a classic Soup au Pistou.
Ingredients
- 1 small japanese eggplant, peeled and cut into ¼‑inch dice
- kosher salt
- .75 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, cut into ¼‑inch dice
- 2 clove garlic, minced
- 1 medium zucchini, cut into ¼‑inch dice
- 2 roma or plum tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1 quart boiling water
- 1 (14½ oz) can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 bouquet garni made with 3 large basil leaves, 2 parsley sprigs, 1 thyme sprig and 1 bay leaf
- fresh ground pepper
- 1 pound elbow macaroni or vermicelli broken into 1‑inch pieces
- ¼ cup whole lightly salted almonds, coarsely chopped
- 2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tin anchovy fillets, packed in oil
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- salt and pepper
- zest of 1 lemon, plus lemon wedges for serving
- 8 very large prawns, shells and heads intact, or 1 pound large shrimp
Directions
In a colander, toss the eggplant with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and let drain for 20 minutes. Rinse the eggplant well and squeeze out as much water as possible.
Heat the ¼ cup olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the eggplant to the pan and let cook over medium high heat until one side browns some. Do not stir.
Add the onions lower the heat, stirring occasionally, until they have become soft but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
Add half of the zucchini and cook until they too begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes. Cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very soft, about 10 minutes.
Pour the boiling water into the pot and add the drained cannelloni beans, and the pasta. Add the bouquet garni, cover and simmer gently over moderately low heat until the beans are heated through, about 5–8 minutes, long enough to cook the pasta al dente.
Season the soup generously with salt and pepper. Stir in the remaining diced zucchini. Turn the heat off and remove the pan from the heat while you prepare the pistou and grilled prawns.
Put the almonds, basil, parsley, anchovies and their oil, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse 6 or 8 times until just combined. I prefer a varied texture so there is no need to scrape the sides. But you may if you like.
Turn the machine on and add the oil in a slow, steady stream Process until nearly smooth. Transfer the contents to a large bowl. Stir in lemon zest; season with salt and pepper.
Set aside ¼ cup of the pistou for the prawns.
Heat a grill to medium-high. Toss the prawns with the reserved ¼‑cup of pistou. Grill, the prawns turning once, until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side; season with salt and pepper.
Just before serving, re-heat the pistou pasta and serve the prawns on top with a big dollop of pistou and lemon wedges.
Its really yummy recipe i have never tried cheese pancake with bacon will definitely going to try it.
Until I was some age that I wouldn’t care to admit to, I don’t think I knew that there was a cheese other than cheddar and (even though I am more well informed on the subject now) there is almost always a block of mature cheddar in the fridge. Often one of the bigger brands that I can get easily in the local shops but the fancier artisanal stuff will feature too. Speaking of which, have you tried Montgomery Cheddar? It’s one of my favourites of the west county farmhouse varieties, love the stuff.
Well of course if there’s bacon involved, the troops are going to come out in full force.
I want to try some unpasteurized cheese! I feel like I’m really missing out on something.
I have been working on all these classic recipes over the past few weeks and I check in everyday to your site just to see what different varieties and derivatives of recipes you are coming up with. It’s a breath of fresh air while I mess with all the standards.
You hit on all cylinders with this recipe and if I were to serve this it would be as a dinner because it has too much good stuff to be left for my grumpy mood morning mentality.
Great job Greg!
Eric
By the way, your Alexa score is rising like crazy…congrats!
What i incredibly looking dish, love the flavor combination — creative genius.
When you were describing English cheddar it made me think back to my past life in the midwest where they thought there was something wrong with the cheddar as it did not have the annatto added to it to turn it that shade of yellow.
I love how you ran with the BLT idea and created a whole new mouth watering dish!
Perhaps one day, and I will go out and work on a cheese farm, work animal farms, farm crops, and all other food related work; then come back together to feel the joy of the experiences…the passion…oh the joy of food!
I also wish I could have a bite of every new blog you have posted, and all the other wonderful food I come across…without the weight gain of course!
The photo is awesome. Looks DELISH!
Wow that looks like Sunday Brunch to me.
I would possibly leave the bacon out.….
Angie’s Recipes
That is the only word I can think of to describe this dish. Origin: Scandinavian-Swahili
usage: Greg Henry’s cheddar cheese pancakes look ridonkulously good!
PS: Don’t look it up. I might have made up some of the facts. Just a bit.
I just saw cheese and pancakes then bacon and vinaigrette next to each other. Yes!!! This is DEFINITELY on my must make list. It’s a MUST!! LOL.
Wow, this is so unique and creative! I love the idea of cheddar pancakes and how delicious with this vinaigrette! I also love farmhouse style cheddar.
I think I’m in love. Cheese pancakes? With bacon dressing? How perfect is that?
This is lovely combination in many ways. I can tell by reading the ingredient list that these flavors are going to be great together. And, the colors look great on the plate.
-I’d love to hang out at a cheese-making farm and taste the differences in the product throughout the course of the year.