Zucchini Soup

‘Oh wait a minute’ you say…’it’s too dang hot to have soup…besides you already posted a bunch of soups back in the wintertime!’

But hold on a second now – this soup can be served hot or COLD…chilled…nice and cool and ready to go when you get home from a long tough day at work.  And it’s vegetable!  So it’s perfect, right?  Well, Bubba would probably call it ‘Grinch Soup’.

So let’s get started…

Zucchini Soup

makes 4 servings

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 pound zucchini

2 cups chicken broth

marjoram: either 1/2 teaspoon dried or 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup half-and-half (chilled version only)

Using a grater, coarsely shred the zucchini with the peel still on.

In a heavy pot, heat the oil over medium heat.  Sauté the onion and garlic about 4 minutes.  Add the zucchini and sauté for another minute.  Stir in the broth and marjoram.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

If you have an immersion (stick type) blender, go ahead and blend up the soup in the pot.  If not, then carefully pour or ladle the soup in two separate batches into the food processor or the blender and spin it until it’s nice and smooth.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve hot, return the soup to the pan and warm it up, then serve in bowls or mugs (I like to have hot soup in mugs).

To serve chilled – put the soup in a container, cover, and put in the fridge for at least an hour.  When ready to serve, whisk the nicely chilled half-and-half into the nicely chilled soup and enjoy.  (Do I really need to tell you to put it into a bowl and serve?   I mean really, are you going to stand at the counter with a straw and go to town straight from the Tupperware?)  

For those of you who are overwhelmed by the growth of zucchini (Jeri) you could make large batches of this and freeze it so you could enjoy this any time of year.