Burden soup
grownandgathered
Sometimes your biggest abundance in the garden, the plants that are so prolific, that are producing the most heavily, just as you dreamed they would, can become your biggest burden. And it seems so many of you feel this way about the beloved zucchini plant (the survey we sent out earlier in the year told us so!).
This season, when we picked an oversized zucchini we begun to refer to it as “the burden”. In one pick, we would have 5 or more “burdens” and we began wondering just how many zucchini pickles could we really make?
So this soup became to alternative to the pickle, and was the season favourite! You can make this soup with zucchinis of any size and it’s just easy, fresh, silky, and super wholesome. It tastes creamy but there’s no cream it - it’s just simple, good food. It’s peasant food really, “cucina povera”. Our favourite kind. There is something so beautiful that comes with simple food like this, you watch the few ingredients go in to the pot and then they are transformed into something just so nourishingly simple, yet delicious. It still fills me with so much wonder (if that is the correct word) each time I make something so simple, like this, but it turns out so delicious. For me it really is one of the most wonderful things about cooking.
Surprisingly, this is also a really simple alternative to preserving zucchinis in jars. Because you can freeze the soup in large batches! Freezing is one of the simplest ways to preserve in our modern world. And almost all of us have a freezer, so why not fill it?
These next few weeks will be when we pick the last of our zucchinis, we will also begin to dig up the seasons potatoes and sweet potatoes, and plant the last of our plantings for spring harvest—pulling out the old season of plants and preparing for the new. If you, like us, will be doing the same—make some batches of this soup with your last haul of zucchinis and freeze it! If your zucchini plants are finished for the season or you are in the Northern hemisphere and settling into early spring, bookmark this page in preparation for the burden that is to come.
Sp, Su, Au | GF, V
Serves 4-6 // Time 1.5 hours
Recipe.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 big pinches freshly ground black pepper
Half bunch (60g) basil and/or parsley, leaves separated from stems, both finely chopped
1 brown onion, diced
4 large cloves garlic, crushed
1kg zucchini (any size), roughly chopped
One medium (about 200 g) potato, roughly chopped
1 large slice parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon unrefined salt
1 litre (4 cups) water
To serve
A few handfuls grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Sourdough bread
Method
In a heavy based pot over a medium heat, add olive oil, pepper, parsley/basil stems and onion, and sauté for about 5 minutes until onions are translucent.
Add garlic, zucchini, potato, and parmesan and continue to fry over a medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Add salt and water, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hour or so (note, this long slow cook is especially essential for oversized zucchinis!)
Use a hand blender to blitz the soup until smooth. Add herbs and combine with the hand blender for 10-20 second, to just combine.
Serve hot, topped with parmesan, a splash of olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and some good sourdough bread on the side.
Or freeze for 4 months or more.
Picture by Shantanu Starick
P.S. It’s true, a second book!
We are super excited to announce that we are in fact working on a second book - which we are so far so proud of and so excited to give to the world!
It will be release in September, 2018!
We will be sending updates and sneak peaks to our mailing list, so be sure to join.
