I’ve had a glut of courgettes this summer and so it’s been great experimenting with them vs simply chargrilling which is what I usually do. They are lovely on their own with sea salt, fresh herbs and olive oil but I rather love this easy soup because the colour on a grey, rainy day is perfect to cheer me up. This recipe serves 4 as a starter or 2 people as a main with some lovely bread.
Perfect sunshine soup for a dreary rainy day
You’ll need
- 3 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for drizzling
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 small white onion
- 1 yellow globe courgette – about 500g
- Salt and white pepper to your taste
- 150 ml vegetable stock or hot water
- 100g feta cheese
- 4 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- 3 tbsp breadcrumbs
To make it
- Pour the olive oil into a saucepan and add the cloves of garlic – I add them peeled and whole as they give a mellower taste.
- Chop and dice the onion finely and then add this too and cook for a few minutes until it just starts to colour. Don’t let it burn or brown as this will give your soup a brown colour vs the virtuous yellow.
- Chop the courgette into rough cubes about 1-2 inches thick and then add these to the pan. I keep the skins on for the colour.
- Toss these around in the onions and oil until well coated and then turn the heat down, add about 20ml of the water, pop the lid on and cook for about 10 minutes. The courgettes should be just breaking apart.
- Leave to cool slightly and then transfer to a food processor or blender and blend til you have a puree.
- Pour the purée back into the saucepan and thin to the consistency you want with the hot water or vegetable stock.
- Season to suit your tastebuds with salt and white pepper. I use white simply to avoid black flecks in the soup.
- To make the gremolata, break the feta up into a small bowl.
- Stir in the breadcrumbs and finely chopped parsely until well combined.
- Toast the cumin seeds in a hot frying pan for a few minutes to release the flavours and then add them to the feta mix.
- Spoon your soup into individual serving bowls and then sprinkle over a little of the gremolata.
You can also use basil, mint or coriander instead of the parsley. They all work well. If you want a richer soup, you can use double cream instead of the vegetable stock.