Every traditional menu begins with a soup; it’s for this reason that one of France’s first gourmets said that a soup was to a meal what a beautiful entrance hall was to a house. 

125 g fresh haricot beans

2 baby carrots

2 small leeks

125 g green beans

1 small zucchini

3 tomatoes

50 g vermicelli

2 tbs basil, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves

50 g grated parmesan cheese

6 tbs olive oil

Salt

Boil the beans for 60 mins in salted water, then drain. Clean and prepare the vegetables and chop them in pieces. Skin the tomatoes and remove the seeds. Bring 1 ½ liter of salted water to the boil. Add all the vegetables – except for the zucchini – and the beans to the boiling water and cook for 15 mins, then add the zucchini. Cook for 15 mins, add the vermicelli and simmer everything for another 10 mins. Pour the soup into a tureen and keep warm. 

Crush the basil and the garlic together in the mortar and mix with the parmesan cheese. Add the olive oil drop by drop, stirring all the time. Then gradually add a few spoonfuls of the vegetable both until a runny sauce has formed. Stir this sauce into the soup.