Zucchini Basil Soup
Some observations/realizations/anecdotes from lockdown, day #36:
-My sister and I went in to full-on holiday mode for Easter, the kind you usually experience around Christmas; but as time is a funny thing in lockdown -- weeks and months run together, it passes quickly but also slowly -- April seemed as good of a time as any to dust off our holiday cheer. With the help of Marigold in Ostiense, we surprised our friends Emma and Giacomo with a delivery of hot cross buns, and I sneakily added in a few of their salted chocolate chunk cookies to my officemate's order when she treated herself to dinner from Marigold. I baked and safely handed off a batch of brownies for our friend Beatrice, an Italian who is very much American when it comes to sweets, loving all that is gooey, fudge-y, and frosted; we surprised our friends Alice and Alasdair with a special delivery from Beppe e i suoi formaggi in Trastevere, sharp creamy goat cheese and delicate artichokes sott'olio and bold love-it-or-hate-it taleggio.
Yep -- I miss my friends.
-In case this is helpful to anyone: maple syrup makes a good substitute for vanilla extract, which I've run out of and can't find anywhere. I've used it in everything from banana bread to brownies without noticing much of a difference. Nothing gets between me and my baking, not even a pandemic.
-Not wearing a mask out in public is risky business -- as they're notoriously hard to find lately/I don't much like the idea of leaving the house for an extended period to track one down, I've been wearing a scarf tied over my face in lieu of a mask. This caused an angry outburst from the cashier handling my groceries during my last (once-every-10-days) trip to the supermarket: "You shouldn't be shopping without a mask!" he protested angrily from behind his own mask and plastic face visor. When I explained I couldn't find a mask, and was doing my best with a scarf, and up until recently they were telling us to leave the masks for the country's doctors, he responded by passive aggressively throwing my food in my direction along with the plastic bags I'd paid for, muttering all the while that I shouldn't have even left the house. The pandemic seems to bring out the best and worst in people, doesn't it?
-Internet is essential in lockdown; I don't know what we would do without it. It allows us to watch Netflix, check the news, waste time on our phones, and Skype with our friends, among other things. Case in point: the recent realization that we were late paying our internet bill sent us in to a pure, scrambling, finger-pointing panic, and though we managed to swiftly pay the outstanding bill online and have had no problems as yet -- crisis averted -- the whole thing made me realize that the internet, something we rely on and overuse in the best of times, has become even more crucial in lockdown, a kind of essential connection to the outside world.
-Everything is funnier in quarantine, an attitude that both seems at odds with the current situation we're in, but also makes sense in a way -- kind of the mind's way of helping us to cope and keep our spirits up? In any case, I have spent entire days laughing about things like this bored sports journalist's broadcast of his dog's activities, this impression of Timothee Chalamet on SNL, this accurate portrait of a work Zoom call, and my sister's recent argument with a fly that she was trying to shoo out of our apartment through the same window it had entered from: "FLY OUT THE WINDOW! DON'T YOU GET IT?! YOU DON'T NEED TO BE HERE! I DO!" Ehem.
But on to the recipe, yes?
Contrary to what this blog and my Instagram account will lead you to believe, I haven't been subsisting solely on just baked goods and pasta (mostly, but not solely) and today's Zucchini -- courgette, for the rest of you -- Basil Soup is proof of that. Continuing with my mission to answer recipe requests in lockdown, this soup is the answer to the DM I got to share some "plant-based recipes" during the lockdown. Aunt Laura, aka T -- this one is for you.
SO! Much like pizzoccheri, chili, meatloaf, and brutti ma buoni (ugly but good) -- this soup isn't winning any beauty pageants. It's pale, Oscar-the-grouch green, plain-looking to say the least -- no melt-y cheese or glistening butter or vibrant colors here -- but don't judge a soup by its cover! Zucchini gives the soup body and texture and a mild, delicate flavor, the perfect backdrop for fiery hot pepper, spicy garlic, earthy basil, and a pinch of winter-y nutmeg, a seemingly strange addition that is actually is perfect here, the "secret" ingredient that is hard to place but makes all the difference. A drizzle of olive oil, a dollop of yogurt, and a little Parmesan tie it all together -- and make this a little prettier? -- and whether you're looking for something a little lighter in lockdown, or just an antidote to the week of straight rain forecast for the Eternal City, this soup is for you. Bonus: this recipe -- using up 5 zucchini in one go -- is also a perfect solution for the fast-approaching time of year when your garden starts to churn out zucchini faster than you can figure out what to do with it.
A couple of notes: I made a few modifications to this recipe; Ina's original recipe calls for 4 cups of broth and 1 cup of wine, but if you don't have any unopened wine hanging around, feel free to use 5 cups of broth. She also calls for more garlic (6 cloves) which I reduced to 2 as I don't like too much garlic, but feel free to up the garlic as needed. The original recipe also calls for 1/2 cup Parmesan and 1/2 cup yogurt to be whisked in at the end, which I didn't do; I just garnished the soup with Parmesan and a swirl of yogurt without whisking it in. Given all that, make this soup however you wish -- it's fairly flexible! If you find that your soup pot isn't big enough to saute all the zucchini in (mine wasn't) then saute half in the pot and the other half in a separate skillet, and then add it all back into the pot once browned.
Looking for other zucchini-centric recipes? I've got this Three-Cheese and Zucchini Tart, these Stuffed Zucchini, this Spaghetti with Egg, Zucchini, and Parmesan, these fried Zucchini flowers, and this Corn, Tomato, and Zucchini Pie.
ZUCCHINI BASIL SOUP
Serves 4-6. Recipe adapted from Ina Garten.
Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 pounds (about 5 large) unpeeled zucchini, chopped in 3/4 inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Generous pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups (100mL) chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup (240mL) white wine (see notes)
1 cup (1 large handful) fresh basil, chopped
Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)
Olive oil, for serving
Directions:
Heat some olive oil in large soup pot over medium-low heat and add onions. Stir for a few minutes until they are translucent but not brown, then stir in the garlic and let cook for a minute. Add the zucchini, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and stir for another 10 minutes until the zucchini becomes soft around the edges. Add the stock and basil and bring the soup to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Blend the soup (about 3/4 of it) in a blender until fairly smooth, and then add it back in to the pot and stir (this will give you soup with a not-too smooth consistency; if you want something smoother, or chunkier, adjust your blending accordingly). Once you have the right consistency, pour all the soup back in the pot and taste for seasonings; you might have to add more salt here (the original recipe called for 3 teaspoons, so depending on how salty your broth is, you might have to add up to another teaspoon more to get the seasonings right). Serve with more freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and a dollop of yogurt over the top.
