Zucchini Basil Soup (… or the sick zucch soup)

What do you do when you wake up and your little sister is sick with fever? You cook a nutritious soup delivered to her bed with some remedies.

The zucchini basil soup

Shopping List

• 1 kg zucchini chopped in big chunks
• 2 red onions finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 leek cut in strips
• 3 cups vegetable broth (2 bio vegetable cubes, 2 bay leaves, sage or other aromatic herbs to spice up your broth)
• 1/3 cups sweet basil leaves chopped
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil

And now what?

Remove the skin from half of the zucchinis with a slicer and then cut the skin in thin stripes. Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon  of salt and put the skin in a sieve for 20 minutes. Preparing the zucchini skin to top up your soup at the end is optional but it definitely adds a kick in the final presentation and taste. Coarsely chop the zucchinis and put aside.

Chop the veggies

Add 3 cups of water in a sauce pan and add 2 vegetable broth cubes, 2 bay leaves, 1 small piece of sage or other aromatic herbs you would like to taste in your broth. Bring to boil and then keep simmering for 10 minutes.

Prepare the broth and the zucchini skin stripes

Drizzle some olive oil in a heavy bottom pan and saute the onions  in medium heat until they get translucent and soft. Add the garlic then the leek and finally the zucchinis. Keep stirring the vegetables and take care for the onion and garlic not to get burn, if need you may add a few additional drops of olive oil.

Saute the onion, garlic, leek and zucchinis

Add the vegetable broth to the vegetables, salt to your taste, partially cover with a lid and boil for 15 minutes or until your zucchinis turn soft. You can test with a fork the tenderness.

Boil the vegetables for 15 minutes approximately

Remove from heat and start adding the mixture in your blender carefully and in batches. Take care when you are mixing hot liquids in the blender, they can explode! Add the fresh basil leaves in the blender and keep puree the mixture until you have a smooth veloute soup.

To prepare the zucchini skins, boil a cup of water and add them in for 1 minute until they get tender.

Ready to serve.

When you serve the hot soup add freshly grounded pepper, some basil leaves and some tenderized zucchini skin stripes.