zucchini leek soup
We’ve been dining on soups more than ever this winter. It has been so freezing cold here in Geneva that nothing warms me up more than a soup, providing my body with all the nutrients it needs to be energized and fight the flu season. Although I’d love to say that I’ve been making so many different batches of soup just because they’re so light and healthy, the truth is that they’re just so ridiculously easy to make and so simple to freeze. Yes, I admit I’m being a bit lazy, but some days I just don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen after a long day at work. With work being so hectic lately, soups have become our best friend and have inspired me to work with a variety of produce and unique combinations.
Inspiration struck me once again when I was attending the cooking demonstration of the new Thermomix at my friend’s house last week, as I detailed when I wrote about this strawberry and mint smoothie. Besides chopping and prepping ingredients, the Thermomix also cooks for you! It’s a robot-chef that mixes, blends, weighs, steams, stirs, whips, emulsifies, grinds, heats, cooks, chops and kneads — that’s 12 functions for you, which basically replaces your need for owning 12 different kitchen appliances. The night of the demonstration we worked on five different recipes: strawberry smoothie, plain focaccia, vegetable soup, jasmine rice and steamed cod with olives and tomatoes. I have to say that I was kind of wondering how good the food could be when cooked by a machine…but the result was so tasty and satisfying that I can now confirm that anyone who owns a Thermomix can be a great chef, whether you’ve been cooking for years or whether you’ve messed up every single dish you’ve ever made.
As I don’t own a Thermomix myself, I made this zucchini leek soup the traditional way, meaning in a saucepan. Don’t be put off by this soup’s vibrant green color — it’s one of the tastiest I’ve ever made, I promise! As the name of this post suggests, the two main ingredients in this soup are zucchini and leek, but I also included potatoes for creaminess and texture and chopped green onion to top the soup before serving. Zucchinis are one of the only vegetables that contain almost all of the vitamins we need, but when cooked on their own they might lack a bit of oomph and can turn out to be quite boring. That’s where the leeks come in, upping their flavor and bringing a pungent twist to the soft taste of zucchini, making it the perfect combination to increase your vitamin intake in a delicious way.
The recipe takes less than an hour to make, with 40 minutes of it being the cooking time where you can just sit back and relax while waiting for your soup to finish. In the Thermomix, it only took 20 minutes to chop, cook and purée, but I much rather prefer spending the extra 40 minutes doing what I love — aka, cooking, and creating and testing new recipes for you.
Other soups you might like on savormania: pumpkin coconut soup, carrot parsley soup and roasted tomato soup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 leeks, white part only, chopped
- 2 small zucchini, chopped
- 350g potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 2 ½ cups vegetable broth
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 tablespoons green onion, white and green parts, thinly chopped
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté the leeks until soft, but don't let them brown, about 7 minutes.
- Add the zucchini, potatoes and vegetable broth. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
- Purée the soup with a handheld blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the soup in bowls topped with the chopped green onion and a dash of olive oil.
How did your zucchini leek soup come out? Share photos of your recipe on Instagram by tagging #savormania