Courgette soup with watercress & crispy chorizo

There are obvious disadvantages to living in a climate where you have pronounced seasons such as we do: you don't get much sun throughout the year and you can't grow vegetables all year round. For most people this means that it's perfectly possible to live a healthy life throughout the warmer months when there's cheap vegetables and fruit in abundance, but in the colder months, fresh produce is neither cheap, nor has it much nutritional value as it has either been stored for months on end or picked way before its prime to be shipped to the other side of the globe.

So for half of the year, I am craving freshly picked courgettes and beans and apples and then all of a sudden, on a fine day in summer, I will be inundated with vegetables from my own (tiny) plantation at the back of my kitchen and well-meaning friends who decide to share their bounty with someone who actually shows a fair chance of using it. But even a six-people household struggles to get through 50 kg of apples from their own trees, a massive bag of runner beans, 6 enormous aubergines and 5 kilos of zucchini dumped by a cleaner whose friend was helping out with the harvest on a local farm!

To make matters worse, courgettes are not something that I use a lot in large quantities - I'll add some here and there, for example to vegetable skewers for a summer BBQ or as part of my famous vegetable lasagne... but FIVE kilos? What to do with them? Since I wanted to use them relatively quickly as they were occuppying a rather large part of my big American-sized fridge in the garage which at the moment is entirely dedicated to the rather large harvest from my apple trees, I decided to make soup - always a good strategy, no matter what the vegetable. A braai at the Cook Sister's house for which I was asked to contribute a starter was the perfect occasion... Jeanne didn't really jump for joy as I presented the idea over the phone (partly, I think, because she hadn't seen or chose to ignore, the weather report), but I think in the end everybody loved the soup. The watercress adds a nice little zing to it and the broad beans make the soup very creamy despite being completely lactose-free, always a bonus in my book. And the chorizo, what can I say - crispy cubes of spicy chorizo can transform any dish into something special, don't you think?

This post is dedicated to the Grow Your Own event created by the lovely Andrea Meyers and hosted this month by Mowgli Chic. It's the type of event I always read about and think, God, did I just miss that again?? Not this month, no!

Courgette soup with watercress & crispy chorizo
(serves 6-8)

5 medium courgettes/zucchini (ca. 800 g)
1 tbsp ghee (or butter)
300 g broad beans (fresh or frozen)
1 litre vegetable stock
2 bunches spring onions
100 g watercress
200 g spicy chorizo

Clean the courgettes, quarter them lengthwise, then cut into rough chunks. Cut the spring onions (including as much of the greens as you can) into 1 cm pieces. Fry the courgettes and onions in 1 tbsp ghee/butter in a large pot until starting to soften and brown.

Add the vegetable stock and half of the watercress, cook until the courgettes are very mushy. Meanwhile, cook the broad beans in water for about 10 minutes, remove the tough outer shells. Reserve some for decoration, then add the remaining beans to the pot and process everything to a thick soup with a hand-held blender. Season to taste.

Peel the chorizo and cut into 1 cm cubes. Fry in a non-stick pan without the addition of any oil - the chorizo will release quite a lot of its own, deeply orange oil which you will want to retain for serving. Fry until crispy, lift the chorizo pieces with a slotted spoon.

Serve the soup with the crispy chorizo, some broad beans, some watercress and a drizzle of the oil remaining from the chorizo.

Comments

[Nicky]

You had me with "crispy chorizo" ;)

[Bron]

What a super combination Johanna! I'm always looking new ideas with zucchini and even though I haven't quite planted mine yet I'm already now looking forward to this one. We adore our soups all year round, and chorizo is almost like the new black... er I mean bacon!

[Kit]

Great idea. It's always hard to know what to do with too much courgette.

I like very thin strips of them fried till crispy at the edges in olive oil and used for a garnish for salads, but even then you only use a few.

Or grated into salads with lemon juice and walnut oil.

[Meeta]

oh i love courgettes and have been getting a few in my CSA box. so i gottat give this a try. looks yummy!

[johanna]

thanks for all your lovely comments!

kit: i have never tried them raw... but if you say so, i will - sounds like a refreshing salad for lunch. i'll try to combine them with carrot, which should be a visual treat... will keep you posted!

[johanna]

Liebe Nicky,

hab mich total ueber Deinen Kommentar gefreut - ich weiss ja, dass wir ganz aehnlichen geschmack haben!
Wie geht's denn immer so? du bist sicher busy wie immer... hier ist's auch nicht viel anders, habe zwar momentan studienpause, aber mit schulbeginn und meiner teilnahme am ballkommittee fuer caro's abiball ist auch ziemlich viel zu tun.

christian hat gerade urlaub und am freitag koennten wir einen tisch im petersham nurseries bekommen, da waren wir jetzt auch schon ewig nimmer, va weil man da so spontan nur was unter der woche kriegen kann - da haben wir gleich zugeschlagen! ich werde fuer dich mitessen!

naja, und sonst tut sich nicht viel, ich sollte mich schleunigst daran machen, mal visitkarten und eine webpage fuer meine ohrakupunktur aufzusetzen, irgendwie kommt immer was dazwischen. ausserdem bin ich momentan permanent muede, koennte schon nach dem aufstehen wieder ins bett gehen ;-) muss mal ein paar kraeuter kaufen, die mich wieder auf vordermann bringen!

wuerde mich freuen, wieder mal von dir zu hoeren,
liebe gruesse einstweilen
bussi
johanna

[Jeanne]

Mmmm, that soup was divine! It's a great combo and perfect for our meal :)

[Meg]

Johanna, that looks lovely! By the way, if you have any freezer space, you know you can always freeze the extra courgettes and then you'll be able to enjoy this soup in January! Just cube the courgettes and blanche three minutes before freezing. Just a thought!

[johanna]

Hi Meg,

thanks for the tip, i had never tried this before, usually only freeze meat imported from austria and pizza for those days when i can't be bothered ;-)
oh yeah, and tons of bridel butter, which i can't get at my local supermarket, well, i lie, but i don't always go to waitrose, so there you go.

must try the freezing, the one in the garage has a large freezer compartment and it's empty!
xx

Johanna-MariaWAGNER
http://www.thepassionatecook.com

...voted Top LondonFoodblog in Time OutFebruary 2009
... featured in the February 07 edition of delicious magazine
... featured alongside Jamie Oliver inthe September 07 edition of playvanilla

[Andrea]

Hi Johanna! Zucchini (as we call them over here) is one of my favorite vegetables because they are so versatile. Your soup looks and sounds fabulous. I'm so glad you got to join us for Grow Your Own this time!

[Lynda]

This has so many good ingredients. Maybe the best part is the chorizo - not unlike bacon, where any dish is better with it!

[Sylvie]

Any soup with crispy chorizo has got to be good.

[Johanna]

love the idea of watercress with courgette - when I was growing up we always had a zucchini slice that was delicious - you have made me think I should try some as zucchini is cheap here right now - though I love using zucchini (courgettes) - just a little olive oil and seasoning before grilling it makes it delicious and perfect for salads, side dishes or pasta