DO NOT PASS UP THIS SOUP RECIPE! If you enjoy the flavors of zucchini and broccoli, then you must make this soup for yourself. Even if you're the only one in your family that will it eat, make it anyway.
I've been looking at this recipe for quite some time now. Always ending with the thought, "I'm the only one who'd eat this one." So the other day, I had two large zucchini and a few sprigs of broccolini hanging out in the frig and I decided to go for it.
BOY! I was completely surprised by the fresh green flavor of this soup. It's light & creamy, the zucchini is subtle. It's TOTALLY HEALTHY and very satisfying. It was SO GOOD, I wanted to jump up from the table and run it to my girlfriend's house and share with her.
I honestly thought, 'everyone who loves their veggies, needs to treat themselves to this soup.'
THIS IS ALL IT TAKES
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 2 pounds zucchini, trimmed and roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 2 to 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup nonfat half-and-half (Land O Lakes makes nonfat)
- salt & freshly ground pepper
Serves 4-6
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook gently for about 5 minutes, stirring frquently, until softened but not brown.
Add the zucchini and Italian seasonings, with salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring often.
Pour in the water and bring to a boil, stirring. Lower the heat, half cover the pan and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
Process the soup in a blender until smooth, then press through a sieve/mesh strainer into a clean pan.
Using a rubber spatula, keep working the soup through the strainer until most all of it has passed through. This REALLY gives this soup it's delicate texture. Don't skip this step. I noticed it removed the large bits of spice and pieces the blender missed.
Add two-thirds of the cream and stir over low heat until hot, but not boiling. Check the consistency and add more cream if the soup is too thick. Taste for seasoning, then pour into bowls.
You're ready to eat!
Extra bits:
In the first soup photo, you'll see I added crumbled feta cheese to my bowl. It was good, but the feta over powered the subtle taste of the zucchini. The second day I ate the soup, I left the cheese out and simple enjoyed the soup.
Looks great Jill, gonna have to try it soon. Did you add in the broccoli or not?
Thanks Mike,
Yes I did toss in what little broccolini I had on hand. It wasn’t enough to make to taste.
In the beginning of this post I said “if you like zucchini and broccoli, then you’d like this soup.”
I meant if you liked either vegetable then you would like it.
The original recipe only called for zucchini, but it would be delicious if we used broccoli, too.
I received an email this morning from a loyal reader regarding this recipe. It reads:
“Good morning!
We have been gifted with humongous zucchinis by the neighbors and essentially made lots of this recipe, in batches of 6 pounds of zucchini. No one can eat that much over so long…
I made zucchini base for the freezer, with the onion and the zucchini, no spices, and froze it quart zip-lock freezer bags. During the winter, a brick of soup comes out and gets thawed and blended with liquid, either commercial veggie broth or using low salt cubes. As we are lactose intolerant, no milk or cheese, adding lemon zest before heating and blending again. We do the same with pumpkin during the winter, but this really does benefit from having one cheese portion cut up as you serve.
Best regards! Susana”
Hi do you know what the uk equivalent of non fat half and half is?? I’d live to try this but i dont know what to use in it’s Place!
Many thanks xx
Hi Corrina!
Well, half-and-half in the U.S. is half cream, half milk. Honestly, I don’t know how they make non-fat cream. It’s an oxymoron. ;D
This soup works very well using good milk. I’ve made it more times, since this posting, with milk because I don’t keep half-and-half on hand all the time.