With zucchini season almost upon us it is important to know what to do with the products of these often prodigious plants. The following soup recipe is one my mother made when I was a kid and I now make. It is one of my all time favourites.
Zucchini Soup
In a frypan or Dutch oven-style pot add 2 tabespoons of butter or olive oil and sauté until thoroughly wilted:
- ½ cup of chopped onion
- 2 large cloves of garlic
Then add 6 medium zucchinis, chopped into chunks. You can judge for yourself what a medium zucchini is and you will quickly realize that you can cut the chunks to pretty well any size. You just want them to soften and brown a little. Cook them for about five minutes.
A nice addition, as long as you like mushrooms, is a cup of coarsely chopped mushrooms. Add them to the pot when you add the zucchinis and cook them. Once they are cooked down, add to the pot or pan:
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ¼ teaspoon of pepper (to suit your taste)
- 6 envelopes of Bovril
- 5 cups boiling water
Bring it all to a boil and then let it rest a couple of minutes.
After it has cooled a little, put the entire mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth (although I like to leave it so that there is still some texture to the soup.)
If you want to add an additional level of decadence to this soup, throw an 8 ounce block of cream cheese into the food processor. This adds a lovely mouth feel when you are eating the soup.
Delicious.