This rich and creamy tasting yet completely vegan soup is a great dish to make with frozen summer squash and zucchini.
Morgan & York has been a terrific help to Locavorious by providing us with a convenient and friendly share pick-up spot, so I’d like to start by shouting out a big thank you! As you might imagine, I pop in and out of the store rather frequently dropping off shares, etc. One can’t help but notice their extraordinary wine and cheese selection and eye-popping variety of artisan and local beers. Fortunately for M&Y I have discovered that it’s also a great place to get a bite to eat. Not only does their deli counter make my favorite sandwiches in town – high quality ingredients on local baguettes – try the Tasso beet – but they also makes this fabulous zucchini soup. Starting this winter 2016, Morgan & York has started using our locally grown frozen summer squash medley in their soup! They shared the recipe, which I adapted to fit with the 16 oz Locavorious frozen summer squash medley bag. It’s so rich and creamy tasting I was surprised to learn there is no milk or cream in the recipe. According to Simone Jenkins, owner of the store with husband Matt Morgan and friend Tommy York, the key to this soup is to use a high quality, flavorful olive oil. She recommends Koroneiki olive oil.
Quality ingredients and local veggies make this simple, elegant soup quite delicious. Frozen zucchini and summer squash are not amenable to just re-heating and eating because of their high water content. They do, however, retain their wonderful summer flavor when frozen and that flavor shines when cooked into a soup. Even this late into the winter, local onions, potatoes, and carrots are all still available at the farmers market.
Ingredients:
1 ½ – 2 T really good extra virgin first cold pressed olive oil
1 large or 2 small yellow onions, chopped
16 oz frozen Locavorious summer squash
1 or 2 Yukon potatoes (½– ¾ lb), peeled and chopped
2-3 large carrots (I used ~ 6 smaller ones), peeled and chopped
Parsley springs or carrot greens
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 1/3 cups water
Garnishes recommended by Morgan & York: 1/3 lb Jamon Serrano, diced into little cubes, or 1/3 lb Manchego cheese, diced into little cubes.
Preparation:
Put oil in a small soup pot on medium heat. Sweat down the chopped onions until they are uniformly soft and translucent. Add everything to the pot – chopped potatoes, carrots, parsley, salt, water and frozen squash. There is no need to thaw the squash first! Put a lid on the pot, turn heat to high and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, break up the frozen squash, stir, replace lid and turn heat down to medium low. With the lid on, let everything simmer ~ 45 minutes or until everything is fully cooked and soft. Remove pot from heat and let cool ~ 1 hour.
Blend to a fully consistent creamy texture with a stick blender (or transfer cooled soup to a blender to puree it.) Add a little water if it’s too thick for your liking. When ready to eat, gently heat the soup back up to ~ 140 degrees, stirring a bit. Garnish with either little diced ham or cheese cubes. If you don’t have Manchego, tiny cubes or shavings of parmesan work too.
