Creamy Zucchini Soup

I promised to post this simple, delicious recipe my mother-in-law recently created.  It's one of the best uses of zucchini (one of the most delicious, too!).  The recipe makes a huge batch - feel free to cut it in half, or make it all.... it freezes beautifully.  Enjoy!

Creamy Zucchini Soup
12 cups chicken stock
15 cups fresh or frozen chopped zucchini (all ok: summer squash, patty pans, etc.)
1 large onion
1 package Neufechtel or cream cheese
salt or pepper to taste (optional)


First, assemble your ingredients.  The exact amounts of this recipe can be varied. If you have more zucchini on hand, use it. It won't ruin the recipe.

Wash & chop your onion and squash.

If you want to get rid of one of a "giant" zucchini, you can use it in this recipe.  Just make sure to scoop out all the seeds first.

If you're making this in the winter and using the frozen zucchini you put up from your garden, all of this isn't even necessary!  Now aren't you glad you went to all that trouble last summer?!?

Next, saute the onion in a bit of oil over medium/low heat until soft.

After the onion is soft, add your chicken stock.  If you have homemade, great.  If not, we all need a shortcut now and then.  You can use the boxed chicken stock or something like I used:  an old-fashioned chicken base.

 

After adding the chicken stock, toss in all of your chopped zucchini.  There will be more zucchini than stock, so the zucchini will fill the pot higher than your stock.  That's fine.

Now, bring up to a boil.  Then turn the heat to low, put on a lid, and let it simmer until the zucchini is soft.  This will take anywhere from 15-30 minutes.

After the zucchini is soft, toss in your package of cream cheese. 

Then puree the whole thing.  The easiest way is with a handy-dandy immersion blender (aka stick blender), but you can always transfer it to a regular blender if you don't have a stick blender. (Note: an immersion blender can be bought for around $20 and is worth the money. It comes in very handy during canning season as well.)

Next, salt & pepper if necessary.  Serve and enjoy!

Preserving Zucchini & Summer Squash

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Whew! This morning, there were masses of zucchini in the room formerly known as my kitchen. I've just waded my way through the masses and am now zucchini-free! (That is, until later today when I come home from the farm with more...)

How did I get through the piles?

Yes, I did sell some at farmer's market yesterday. Yes, I did pass some off on unsuspecting friends, relatives, and neighbors. (Leave your car doors locked during church or else I will leave a bag of zucchini, or so the jokes go).

But most of it I put up for winter. Did you know you can preserve zucchini? I freeze mine, but I do have a friend who cans it as well.

It's so easy to freeze, especially if you have a food processor. You can whip through pounds of it in less than an hour!

Zucchini &all other summer squashes can be frozen in slices or shreds. The frozen slices can be used all winter in stir fry, casseroles, and my favorite -in soups such as minestrone and Italian Sausage Soup. The shredded zucchini is traditionally used in baked goods such as zucchini bread, muffins, or in the great Zucchini Pizza Crust.

Just shred or chop, using a food processor if you have it, or a knife / cheese grater if you don't. Toss into freezer bags, label, put in freezer and use all winter.

Enjoy!








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Zucchini pizza recipe!

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I planted 4 varieties of zucchini this year, and all of them are now producing!

Here is my take from one morning.


Featured is "Golden Zucchini", "Bennings Green Tint", "Vegetable Marrow", and a white Patty Pan scalloped variety (the name of that one eludes me now).

Want another yummy zucchini recipe?

I made a zucchini pizza recently and it was delicious! The zucchini is in the crust - it has very little flour!

Zucchini Pizza
3 cups shredded zucchini
3 eggs, well beaten
1/3 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Mix all ingredients together and place on bottom of greased 9x13 pan. (This will make a very thin crust, so double the recipe if you'd like a thicker crust.)
Bake, without any toppings, at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and put your toppings on. Your pizza sauce, cheese, meat, vegetables, whatever you choose. Then place back in the oven and cook for another 10 minutes or so, until cheese is melted to your taste.
Enjoy!








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Stuffed Zucchini recipe

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I spent some time cooking with zucchini (again) the other day and I came up with a good recipe for stuffed zucchini. You can stuff zucchini with just about anything!


Corn & Cheese Stuffed Zucchini Recipe
6 medium-sized zucchini (about 7-9 inches long)
1 onion
2 cups sweet corn
1 package cream cheese
salt & pepper


I used the light green zucchini as the "stuffers".

Just lightly rinse them off, slice lengthwise down the middle, and scoop out the seed cavity with a spoon.


Next, I used two golden zucchini for part of the stuffing. I thought it would be interesting to use two different colored zucchini. I would have used more colors, but I need to pick more of the black & white out at the farm (another drawback of having your house 13 minutes from your garden plot).


Chop them up.


Saute the onion & yellow zucchini in canola or olive oil until soft.


Next, add 2 cups sweet corn to the pan. I used some of my frozen sweet corn from last summer, but if fresh is available you could always cut it off the cob and toss it in. I also added 1 package of cream cheese (you may use low-fat if you prefer, or you could substitute with something like salsa if you prefer to skip the cheese). Cook & stir until everything is melted together. Season to taste with salt & pepper.



Next, spoon the mixture into the hollowed-out zucchini and top with a sprinkling of cheddar or colby cheese, if desired.


Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.



Enjoy!








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Zucchini! Cooking and preserving ideas!

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I harvested my first zucchini on July 9. I hope to plant it earlier next year for an earlier harvest!
I love zucchini. It just keeps coming. The more you pick, the more it will grow. Harvest them small, at 6 inches is best. If they are allowed to become too large, they will not be as tender and the seeds will be huge. Plus, if you pick them small the plant can devote more energy to producing more new zucchini.

Pictured here are 3 heirloom varieties.



Golden Zucchini, Bennings Green Tint and Black. (I'm still waiting on 1 or 2 varieties to produce, including a Patty Pan).

I love the tiny zucchini, harvested at about 4-6 inches long. They are so tender & delicious. They are wonderful chopped raw onto a salad or sliced for eating raw with a dip.

To saute zucchini, slice into circles and cook with a bit of olive oil in the pan. They are great cooked with onions. For a great breakfast, saute zucchini with onion and mix with scrambled eggs. You can also cook it with swiss chard (or other greens), garlic, potatoes, etc. and top the eggs with cheese.

For baked zucchini fries, slice into strips. Coat with canola oil, sprinkle with chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Lay in single layer on cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes. Delicious!

Zucchini is great in soup. Try a minestrone recipe.

Saute it with other vegetables and toss with pasta coated in some olive oil.

Last year, I dehydrated some zucchini slices on an electric dehydrator. They come out crispy and can be used in place of potato chips. Much healthier and absolutely delicious!

I freeze zucchini slices & hunks to toss into crockpot soups all winter.

Many people shred zucchini, freeze it, and use this all winter in zucchini breads and other zucchini baked goods.



Enjoy!






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