Creamy Roasted Zucchini Garlic Soup

On Sundays, I try to cook with what I have on hand. I open my fridge and I take inventory of what produce is left from the previous week and I'll make my meals for the day from what's left or what's really on its way out.

I came up with this soup when last year when I opened my fridge and saw a few sad-looking zucchinis that I had bought and then forgot about. I thought, how I can use these up when I don't have much else on hand. I took the zucchinis out of the fridge along with an onion my last few cloves of garlic and a single potato and lo and behold this soup was born.  

What makes this soup extra creamy is the addition of chunks of potato that cook in the soup until tender and then everything gets buzzed up so the potato adds a really creamy texture to the soup. My secret to making the soup to be really decadent is the addition of a little more olive oil at the very end which gives the soup a really rich mouthfeel. 

This soup is very simple to prepare and only has 8 ingredients and I'm assuming you definitely have 4 of those ingredients already in your kitchen and the other 4 you most probably have as well. 

Creamy Roasted Zucchini Garlic Soup 

3 Tbs olive oil - divided 

2 large zucchinis, cut into chunks 

5 cloves garlic, smashed  

1 medium onion, diced

1 large potato, peeled and cut into chunks 

5 cups of water 

Kosher salt 

3/4 tsp pepper 

Preheat your oven to 425°F/220°C 

Place the zucchini and smashed garlic cloves on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for 20 minutes until the zucchini is slightly golden around the edges. In the meantime heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion along with a good pinch of salt and cook until the onion starts to become translucent about 5-8 minutes.  Add the roasted zucchini and garlic, potato chunks, and water. Add another pinch of salt and the 3/4 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat, cover the pot, and allow the soup to simmer for about 15 minutes until the potato chunks are tender. 

Remove the pot from the heat and blend the soup using an immersion blender. You can use a stand blender just be sure to work in batches and to remove the small plastic cap in the cover and place a kitchen towel over the top being very careful with the build-up of steam. 

Whichever method you choose blend until smooth, then add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and blend once more to mix that in and then taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed. 

This soup is delicious as is, but I like to garnish the soup with some fresh parsley to compliment the zucchini and bring some freshness to a surprisingly rich soup.

Yield: 4 portions