Zucchini Basil Soup with Fried Shallots

You guys rule! Every single one of you. Thank you for following the blog, cooking Tumbleweed Farm recipes and sending your unconditional good vibes from all over the world right to our farm. Taylor and I feel the love and damn it, when things get tough it's good to know folks are rooting for us from all over. It seriously means the world to us! A lot of you have offered to help us through this tough time with the deer fencing that we need to budget for. As much as we love the idea of a crowd fundraising to support the cause it's a little out of our comfort zone. We've chatted and we decided the best way for folks to support us is to shop at their local farmers market and heck, buy the "ugly" lettuce that has some nibbles in it! Small farmers struggle all over the country and we want to spread the "local" love as much as possible. We may revisit a fundraising in the future but for now we just want folks to support their local small farms. Thanks again for the amazing offer! Since it's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster of a week we've turned to comfort food. Nothing soothes the soul more than a bowl of creamy, farm fresh soup. This recipe was inspired by one of our amazing CSA members-Greta (you may remember her from a few posts back  because she came and spent an entire morning weeding carrots for us!) After her morning of carrot weeding she shared a recipe she made with her CSA share the previous week. I loved the sound of her soup and couldn't wait to whip it up in the Tumbleweed Farm kitchen. This soup is the definition of simplicity. The list of ingredients is short, but the fresh flavors and creamy texture absolutely shine. Don't be fooled by how basic this is, it's a crowd pleaser (we got 4 very enthusiastic thumbs up from our neighbors) and I'm actually going to share it as a recipe of the week for our CSA members soon because it's absolutely delightful. Pair this soup with a glass of your favorite summer wine and enjoy the fresh flavors of the season. Cheers from Tumbleweed!

Zucchini Basil Soup with Fried Shallots

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

Soup
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium sized yellow onion, diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, ends trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 cups vegetable broth + additional to thin if necessary
  • 1/3 cup packed basil leaves, roughly chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1-2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional)
For the fried shallots
  • 1 large shallot, thinly sliced into rings
  • 1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or another high heat cooking oil)
  • salt + pepper

Preparation

  1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring often until fragrant and softened. About 5 minutes. Add chopped zucchini and a healthy pinch of salt. Cook for an addition 3-5 minutes. Add 3 cups of vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  2. Add the chopped basil to the soup and puree- either with an immersion blender or in batches, transfer the soup to a blender and whirl away until smooth and creamy. If the soup is too thick add additional stock or water.
  3. Taste test and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Keep the soup warm while you prepare the shallots.
  4. Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the sliced shallots and fry until lightly browned on both sides. About 2 minutes per side, watch carefully to make sure you don't burn them! Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.
  5. Ladle soup into bowls and top with fried shallots and season with additional salt + pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Notes

*Use this recipe as a guide *Adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary *Taste test as you go *Cooking times will vary from kitchen to kitchen *Have fun while preparing this meal

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