This fresh summer soup is a lovely way of polishing off extra courgettes. It’s a good light lunch with bread and salad, and is especially excellent if you serve it with a generous dollop of tomato chutney in the middle of the bowl. Use Pecorino or any other substitute hard cheese in place of Parmesan if you are a vegetarian.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 6 or 7 courgettes, diced
- a handful of basil leaves
- 600ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
- 50ml cream, double or single
- parsley, chopped (optional)
- 50g Parmesan, grated
- salt & pepper
Method
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then fry the garlic, courgettes and basil with a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes, until softened.
- Add the stock, then simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Blitz the mixture in blender or food processor, reserving some of the courgette if you want a bit of texture in the soup, then return to the pan, stirring in any chunks of courgette you have reserved.
- Gently reheat, stirring in the cream, parsley and most of the Parmesan. Season. You may want to thin the soup with some milk or stock.
- Serve with the reserved Parmesan sprinkled on top.
