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Serves 6Difficulty:
Easy
I found courgettes the easiest to grow in my garden at home. The plants require minimum maintenance and if you give it enough water and space you will have a great harvest all summer long.
You might find this recipe slightly over indulgent as I only use the green firm outer parts of the courgette, however there is lots that you can make with the white seedy interior, such as the courgette hummus recipe on this site. The reason for only using the green outer parts and spinach is to keep the lovely vibrant green colour.
I have served this chilled soup with goats milk yoghurt as a garnish however natural yoghurt will be just as delicious. This soup is delicious served either hot or cold.
Ingredients & Method
- 1.5kg courgettes
- 200g ice cubes
- 500g cold chicken stock, if frozen it's even better
- 1 banana shallot sliced
- 1 clove of garlic crushed
- Juice and zest of one lemon
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 40g fresh large leaf spinach
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- Fresh thyme leaves and flowers
- 2tbs goats milk yoghurt
- Extra virgin olive oil for serving
Wash the courgettes and cut them into 1/4’s, remove the white soft seeds. You will end up with roughly 1kg of the green firm part and 500g of the white soft seedy interior. Keep the white parts for another recipe, however if your not too fussed then use the whole lot, the colour of the soup will be effected and not as green. I have chosen to use the firm green parts as I wanted a vibrant green colour. Chop the green parts of the courgette into even size pieces.
Saute the sliced shallots, crushed garlic and courgettes in a tablespoon of olive oil, cayenne pepper and seasoning until lightly coloured, about 2 minutes at high heat. Have the ice cubes ready in a bowl along with the cold or frozen chicken stock. Scatter the sauteed courgettes onto the ice cubes to cool them rapidly. Add the grated nutmeg, washed spinach leaves and lemon juice.
Blend the soup until smooth, I use a Thermomix to get a very smooth soup, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed and chill.
Serve the chilled soup with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and a dollop of the goats milk yoghurt and garnish with the thyme leaves and flowers and a piece of the freshly baked courgette bread.