Zucchini, Pea, and Basil Soup by Ottolenghi for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I selected this week's soup when I thought we might be having storm weather but both hurricanes Eric and Flossie are now just tropical depressions and they're just making for very warm and humid weather. We should still get a dump of rain early in the week from Flossie and this soup will be a good lunch for the cold air conditioning of the office. 

From Ottolenghi Simple, this Zucchini, Pea, and Basil Soup is in fact simple both in ingredients and preparation. I didn't feel the need to make changes to the recipe. 

Ottolenghi says, "The way to keep a green soup green is not to overcook it. Once you’ve added the peas and basil to this, take it off the heat and blitz it straight away."

Zucchini, Pea, And Basil Soup 
From Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi
(Makes 8 Servings)

5 Tbsp olive oil (I reduced to 3), plus extra to serve
1 head of garlic, cloves separated & peeled
about 6 medium zucchini, chopped into 1 1/4" slices (about 9 cups)
salt & black pepper
1 quart vegetable stock
2 cups water
4 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 1/2 cups basil leaves
7 oz feta, broken into pieces
1 lemon, finely zested

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium-high flame, then fry the garlic cloves for two to three minutes, stirring often, until caramelized. Add the zucchini, two teaspoons of salt and plenty of pepper, and fry for three minutes, stirring, until starting to brown.

Pour in the stock and cold water, bring to a boil and cook on a high heat for seven to ten minutes, until the zucchini is soft but still bright green. Add the peas, stir through for a minute, then add the basil, turn off the heat and blitz smooth with a stick blender (or in a blender).

To serve, spoon into bowls and top with the feta and lemon zest. Finish with a good grind of black pepper and a final drizzle of oil.

Notes/Results: This soup tastes of summer and is an excellent way to use up a bunch of zucchini and basil if you grow them or are lucky enough to know someone with an overstocked garden. The flavor is good and even better when you add the salty feta cheese and zip from the lemon zest and black pepper. In fact, I think it benefits from a squeeze of the lemon juice too--to add some brighter notes. I am actually curious to try this one cold too, as I think it will be good both ways but I look forward to a warm bowl with some bread for a few easy work lunches this week. I would make it again.

Linking up to I Heart Cooking Clubs where it is Potluck week. Our chance to make any recipe from any of our IHCC featured chefs.

Now let's take a look into the Souper Sundays kitchen:

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor has been cooking up a storm lately with Trader Joe's products and is sharing a sandwich this week. She says, "Hummus! I love hummus. Here is a sandwich I made with a tomato basil hummus spread. Lettuce and Tomato on Toasted Bread. Easy lunch to take to work."

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen returns with Crushed Potato, Courgette and Feta Salad. She says, "Once the courgettes were suitably soft, I stirred in some of the homegrown peas, a little salt and pepper and chopped parsley. Then covered it with some feta cheese and spring onions.  I returned it to the oven for a few minutes, before serving it. Even though this was so simple to put together, D liked it very much.  He especially loved the roasted green courgette wedges."

Join me in welcoming Harriet of RecipePocket to Souper Sundays this week. She joins us with Easy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup with Egg Noodles and says, "Make this homemade chicken noodle soup with egg noodles and you will have a tasty meal that everyone will enjoy. Made from scratch with a simple chicken broth recipe, this immune boosting chicken soup is great any time of the year. It’s also budget friendly and healthy, what more could you ask for!"

Here at Kahakai Kitchen I tried  and adored Gabrielle Hamilton's Celery Toasts. The buttered toast squares topped with Cambozola blue cheese and a pungent shaved celery salad with garlic, scallions and lemon juice were an excellent blend of textures and flavors and the perfect little open-faced sandwiches to enjoy with a glass of crisp white wine.

Thanks to everyone who joined in this week!

About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!Click here to enter 

Have a happy, healthy week!