Courgette & Basil Summer Soup
This was one of the recipes my mum would prepare in the Summer. I must have been around 10 years old when we used to sit outside and have this delicious soup for dinner.
It’s a bright green soup that probably shouldn’t appeal to children, but I used to love it.
Now, over twenty years later, I know that the combination of sautéed courgette and fresh basil is what made it irresistible to me.
“Fresh home-made soups are amazing, but they look like a lot of work and it’s so tempting to just buy them in a can.”
I promise this will take you 30 minutes to prepare. If you count the time it takes you go to the supermarket, buy the soup, go back home and warm it up you’ll see it’s roughly the same time. It’s also worth mentioning that basil in a plastic can will never taste as good as freshly blended basil.
“It’s not easy being green”
- Kermit the frog
Ingredients list
5 medium courgettes
1 generous handful of basil
Olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of your pan)
3 spring onions
Salt & pepper
3 tbsp of grated parmesan
150g of water
Sour cream for decoration (this is optional)
Tools
Blender
Cooking Time
30 minutes
Step by Step
Wash the courgettes and chop them into small chunks
Add olive oil in a non-stick pan (enough oil to cover the bottom) and heat it up
Finely chop the spring onions and add them into the pan as soon as the oil is hot
Turn the heat down to medium, add the courgettes, season them and sauté for 5 minutes
Add the water into the pan and cover. Slowly cook until the courgettes are tender. It shouldn’t take more than 15min
Transfer the courgettes in a blender and add the fresh basil and blend
Transfer the soup back in the pan, add the parmesan
Let the soup rest for 15mins before you serve (it has to be room temperature)
Serve on a plate with fresh pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and sour cream (this is optional)
Tips & cheats (what can go wrong and how to fix it)
Not much can go wrong with this one luckily. As always I’d just recommend seasoning it at the beginning and keep tasting while it cooks to adjust accordingly
Some courgettes are very watery and they might end up making your soup too thin. A way to avoid this is to add just a small part of the water while cooking. If it’s too thick when blending it you can add extra liquid to balance it.
If you want a thicker and more wintery version you can add 4 tbsp of double cream when blending
“It’s not that much harder than making a smoothie to be honest.”
That’s a great analogy; hopefully it will translate into more home made soups!
