zucchini

I got a bunch of old Gourmet magazine issues recently on eBay, I think it was my way of coping with good-food-magazine withdrawals. I ended up with almost all of the issues from 2008 and I've slowly been going through them and marking off interesting recipes.

After getting two large zucchinis at an Amish farm near Lancaster over Memorial Day weekend I was inspired to make something else besides my normal go-to zucchini recipes, and then I found this recipe for zucchini-basil soup. I didn't have basil on hand so instead I substituted a bit of dill and some mint, which actually worked quite well. Though I'm sure basil would give it a bolder flavor.

Zucchini-Basil Soup Gourmet | July 2008

Ingredients
2 pounds zucchini, trimmed and cut crosswise into thirds
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cups water, divided
1/3 cup packed basil leaves

1) Julienne skin (only) from half of zucchini with slicer; toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and drain in a sieve until wilted, at least 20 minutes. Coarsely chop remaining zucchini.

2) Cook onion and garlic in oil in a 3- to 4-quarts heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add chopped zucchini and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add 3 cups water and simmer, partially covered, until tender, about 15 minutes. Purée soup with basil in 2 batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids).

3) Bring remaining cup water to a boil in a small saucepan and blanch julienned zucchini 1 minute. Drain in a sieve set over a bowl (use liquid to thin soup if necessary).

4) Season soup with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow bowls with julienned zucchini mounded on top.