What better way to use the most prolific vegetable of summer than to puree a whole lot of it into a soup? This Zucchini Soup has great body simply from the amount of zucchini, no cream or starchy thickeners in sight. So it's both healthy (lots of vegetables) and efficient (as in using up all that zucchini gardeners tend to have on hand).
Note: This soup freezes beautifully, so feel free to make a double or triple batch and freeze any leftovers to enjoy when zucchini isn't in season anymore.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion
- 1 Tbsp. oil or butter
- 1/2 tsp. salt plus more to taste
- 4 medium zucchini
- 3 - 4 vegetable or chicken broth
- Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
- Freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
Preparation:
- Chop onion. Heat a medium pot over medium high heat and add oil or butter. When the fat is hot, add the onion and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent and tender, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, trim and chop the zucchini. Add zucchini and broth to the onion. Raise heat to bring to a boil then reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is very tender, about 15 minutes.
- Working in batches if necessary, whirl soup in a blender or food processor until very smooth (at least 1 minute per batch). Return pureed soup to pot. Add salt and pepper, if you like, to taste (note that soup often requires a lot of salt to acquire good flavor, just think of all that water in there!). Serve hot with a sprinkle of pepper and/or nutmeg, if you like.
