Rosemary Zucchini Soup

Submitted by Boomette

"This recipe comes for the Canadian Living magazine. This soup will have you hoping for a bumper zucchini crop in the vegetable garden (can't wait LOL). Its creamy texture comes from the rice, not the cream. To make it smoother, strain the soup through a fine sieve after puréeing."

 

• Ready In: 44mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 zucchini, chopped
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
• 2 1⁄2 cups sodium-free chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons long-grain rice
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons rice vinegar or 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

directions

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Fry celery, onion, garlic, fennel seeds, salt and pepper, stirring, occasionnally, for 5 minutes or until softened.
2. Stir in zucchini and rosemary; cook for 6 minutes.
3. Add stock, 2 cups water and rice. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring often, for about 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in rice vinegar; let cool slightly.
4. In batches in blender or food processor, purée soup until smooth. (Make-ahead : Let cool for 30 minutes; refrigerate in airtight container for up to 2 days.) Reheat in clean saucepan.

Reviews

[Karenlyn2]

Uff. I feel bad writing this review, because I wonder if something was up with my fennel seed. Anyway, this soup tasted overwhelmingly of fennel seed-- and I LOVE strong flavors. It wasn't inedible, but it was pretty darned close. I added a bunch of sage and some other things and got it, in the end, tasting something like Italian sausage soup --a bit odd!-- but it was the only way I could stomach it. I don't see anybody here commenting on the fennel flavor (and I used just under 2 tsp, in the end), so maybe it was my fennel seed? Still, had to comment. Watch out for the fennel seed.

 

[bluemoon downunder]

A very quick to prepare mid-week recipe and really healthy (lots of vegetables!) and flavoursome. What more can one ask for? Apart from adding two leeks, I made this exactly to the recipe. I used lemon juice rather than the other option of rice vinegar. I blended about three quarters of the soup so there were still some chunky bits in it. I removed a quarter of the soup, used the immersion blender, then added the quarter portion back into the pot. A great blend of flavours, Boomette, and a recipe I'll certainly make again. Thank you for sharing it.

 

[pennynickle]

Delicious! I added some chili flakes to it.

 

[DeeCooks]

I made as stated, and it was a great way to use up some of that zucchini! We'd have rated 5 stars but it seemed something missing that I just couldn't put my finger on....a bit more depth of flavor maybe? I want to try it again and grill the zucchini maybe.... very nice as is, though!

 

[Sageca]

Lovely light tasting soup.I didn't have fennel but added fesh basil and fresh italian parsley. I also left kind of chunky;we had this with a fresh baguette;so good. Thanks for posting.I made this for 123 Wonders Tag game. Rita