zucchini soup

It is hot. We do not have air conditioning in this house. I do not want to be in the kitchen. But then the new issue of Food & Wine shows up so here I go, into the kitchen. 

I had picked up a few zucchini from Hearty Fork Farm last weekend which I did not use during the last TK dinner event. And then today my neighbor left another bag of zucchini on my porch. 

How cute are my neighbors?

I've made a few recipes out of this issue already (for last weekends TK event) But decided I would share this soup recipe first. I know. I just said it is HOT and here I am making soup. Welcome to my addled little brain.

I imagine you can add whatever additional ingredients you love with your zucchini. I added lots of pepper, a dollop of sour cream and some fresh dill. I had a moment where I thought it should have a little cream in it and maybe some more spices, but then decided no, I enjoyed the purity of flavor and the uncomplicated ingredients list (and did I mention it is HOT in my house?)
And then a friend of mine said "it NEEDS bacon!" 
Noted...next time.

recipe below adapted from July 2014 Food & Wine magazine


you will need:

tablespoon butter
couple tablespoons olive oil
1 sweet onion - diced
2 garlic cloves - thinly sliced
4 medium zucchini - washed, halved lengthwise and sliced into moons
2/3 cup vegetable stock
1 cup of water
salt
pepper

for garnish:
julienned raw zucchini
sour cream
chopped fresh dill

to do:

In a medium soup pot, heat the butter and olive oil.
Add the onions and garlic.
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.
Cook until the onions are translucent.
Add the zucchini moons (see below)

Cook about ten minutes.
Add the vegetable stock and water.
Bring to a boil for five minutes.
Turn heat down to medium and simmer another ten minutes or so.

Remove from the heat.
Puree the entire thing - I used my immersion blender, but you can use a regular blender and just do it in batches.
Taste, then add more salt and pepper as desired.

Ladle into bowls, garnish and serve.
Enjoy!

Fresh Zucchini Salad

Well, if your garden is behaving the way mine is right now you have an EXCESSIVE amount of zucchini. We have had it sauteed, grilled, steamed, baked, in pasta, out of pasta, shredded in pancakes, etc...etc...I think the family is going to mutiny if they see me walk by with one more zucchini.

Just now I asked if anyone wanted to taste this for me and received a resounding "NO".

Oh well, they missed out. This was so quick and deliciously fresh and required no cooking. Will be perfect tonight with whatever gets thrown on the grill (for me anyway, looks like the family is having corn)

I originally saw this in a magazine somewhere a long while back. I remember the original recipe called for pine nuts (which I currently do not have) and also for basil (which I wasn't in the mood for) 

I made it today with toasted walnuts - that I sent through the Cuisinart - and fresh mint from the garden but I imagine whatever your favorite herb and nut and cheese combination is will work just fine.

YOU WILL NEED:

Lemon vinaigrette (recipe below)

1 medium sized zucchini

good parmesan cheese

crushed walnuts

fresh mint

fresh ground black pepper

For the Dressing:

about 1/2 cup good extra-virgin olive oil

fresh squeezed juice from half a lemon (maybe more depending how tart you like it)

pinch or two of crushed red pepper flakes

almost half a teaspoon of sugar

salt 

pepper

All of this into a little bowl

Mix well. Taste for seasoning.

Using a potato/vegetable peeler, peel long strips from your zucchini.

Or get your six year old to peel the strips so you can take a photo.

(can you believe the size of this zucchini?)

Arrange zucchini strips on individual serving plates - shave parmesan cheese slices over zucchini (same peeler) drizzle dressing over top of zucchini and cheese - at this point I also used the Microplane to ensure I got bits of cheese all over everything on the plate. Finally, sprinkle chopped walnuts, finely sliced pieces of mint and another go round of freshly ground black pepper.

Serve immediately.

zucchini tart

you will need


1 sheet puff pastry
2 or 3 zucchini - thinly sliced lengthwise
3 onions - thinly sliced
1 egg - whisked with a little water
about 1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 (maybe 2) pats of butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 bunch fresh dill - 2 tablespoons chopped
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
Parmesan cheese
Large baking sheet covered with parchment paper

to do


oven to 375

move oven shelf to the spot just below the middle 
(sorry...terrible description)


lightly flour your work surface then roll out puff pastry sheet to about 10x12.
move to baking sheet.
brush edges with egg/water mix.
fold edges down to make a border.
use a fork to poke some spots all over the bottom of pastry sheet.
put back in fridge till ready to use.

warm skillet to medium high heat - add butter and olive oil - add sliced onions - add sugar, 8 turns of salt, 5 turns of pepper - stir occasionally - let cook till edges look crispy - about 20 minutes depending on how hot your pan gets.  
remove from heat and mix in 2 tablespoons chopped dill and the chili flakes - let cool.
retrieve pastry sheet - spread onion mixture evenly over pastry - top with slices of zucchini - drizzle top with little olive oil (salt and pepper if you wish) then bake till pastry is puffed and golden - about 20 minutes.
let cool for few minutes then garnish with Parmesan shavings and roughly chopped fresh dill.