Cream of Zucchini Soup

 

Creamy and flavorful, this zucchini soup saves me each time I have less than 30 minutes to make something rich and filling. And I say it from the bottom of my heart, a bowl of zucchini soup is the only thing you’ll need after a long working day. It’s tasty, it’s smooth and creamy, it’s delicate and hearty at the same time.
For making this soup, my oraganisational skills come in handy. Therefor, I chope the onions and I sautee them in a saucepan. Meanwhile, I heat the soup in a small saucepan and I chop my zucchini. I season the onion with garlic and thyme, I add the zuchhini and the boiling soup, I cover with a lid and I cook the zuchhini until tender, for about 15 minutes. I blend the soup, I add the cream and I serve it. Quick, budget-friendly and heart-warming good!

Ingredients (for 4 servings):
⦁ 3 medium zucchini (1 – 1.2 kg)
⦁ 2 medium onions (150g)
⦁ 3 garlic cloves
⦁ 2 springs of thyme
⦁ 2 Tbsp olive oil
⦁ 3 cups vegetable soup
⦁ 50ml whipping cream

for serving:

⦁ grated parmesan cheese
⦁ crutons (I used Backerbsen)

Method:
1. Onion. Peel the onion, half it and and chop it. Take a large saucepan and heat the olive oil. Add the onion and sautee it over low heat until translucent (for about 5 minutes).
2. Soup. Place the soup in a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer.
3. Zucchini. Wash the zucchini and pat it dry. Trim their ends, cut them lenghtwise and chop them.
4. Sautee the veggies. Add the minced garlic and the thyme leaves to the pot and sautee until the garlic is fragrant (for about 1 minute). Add the zucchini, the boiling soup and cover with a lid. When the soup starts simmering, boil it over low – medium heat until the zucchini are tender (it takes no more than 15 – 20 minutes).
5. Blending. Take about 1 cup of boiling liquid and set aside. Carefully place the vegetables and the remaining liquid in the bowl of a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. If the soup is too dense, thin it with the remaining soup.
6. Season. Place the soup in the same saucepan. Add the cream and season with salt if necessary.
7. Serve. Serve it in bowls with parmesan cheese and croutons.

Source: www.skinnytaste.com

Red Wine – Poached Pears Served with Mascarpone Orange Blossom Cream



Poached pears are simply amazing! If simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication, this dessert might be the quintessence of this idea. Ripe pears, brown sugar, wine. Maybe a vanilla bean, a cinnamon stick and a star anise. This simple ingredients, combined together, create a mouth-watering, exquisite and stunning dessert.

Poached pears are so versatile. They can be paired with a cheese platter and nuts, creating the perfect way to end any sophisticated menu. They can be served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and they make a refreshing dessert ideal on a hot summer evening. I chose this time to serve them in a wine and brown sugar reduction and I paired them with a flavorful orange blossom mascarpone cream. Regarding poached pears, the possibilities are endless! Continue reading Red Wine – Poached Pears Served with Mascarpone Orange Blossom Cream

Quail Egg Butter Curry

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quail-egg-beetroot-curry

pretty-little-quail

silky-curry

quail-egg-butter-curry-and-sprouts

Quail eggs boiled to perfection, served in a velvety and decadent butter and beetroot sauce, scented with ginger and Garam Masala. It does sound appealing, doesn’t it! The fact is I’m seldom dazzled by a combination of flavors, not because I’m a person hard to impress, but because I try really hard to content my emotions, at least culinary-wise. But this flavor profile mesmerizes me, it fascinates me to the point I drag myself to the kitchen at 1 am, in my pijamas, just to enjoy that taste again.

The starting point of this recipe is in fact Murgh Makhani, a delicious Indian butter chicken curry. About three years ago I substituted chicken with quail eggs and the recipe made so much sense, that I’ve made it only with quail eggs ever since. I often make this recipe with ghee, the Indian clarified butter, a very nutritious ingredient, but since I make my own ghee and I happened to run out ot it, I decided to use regular butter. And yes, that gorgeous chick in the picture is one of my quail-pets. On this note, how cool is the fact that my pets also provide breakfast? Continue reading Quail Egg Butter Curry

Citrus Semifreddo

Citrus semifreddo

Semifreddo

Semifreddo is a delicious frozen Italian dessert. It’s basicaly an icecream, a really smooth and creamy one, the cremiest icecream that doean’t require an icecream maker. Semifreddo is so easy to make, it requires just a few basic ingredients, a bread tray and a freezer. That’s all! It’s useless to use as an argument the fact that this lovely treat melts in your mouth; of couse it does, it’s an icecream after all. But its incredibly rich taste and fragrance, the interesting creamy-crunchy justaposition make from this treat a winner. As I mentioned above, semifreddo is so easy to make, the most difficult part of the recipe being the 6 hours waiting interval! Oh… but when it finally freezes… Continue reading Citrus Semifreddo

Creamy Tomato Soup with Parmesan Chips

Tomato soup

Parmesan chips

Tomato soup & parmesan chips

Today we’ll talk about tomato soup, a simple soup yet fascinating in its simplicity. I think tomatoes are the most versatile vegetables (or fruits, if we approach the problem in a scientific manner), they taste so good in so many combinations, this is why there are hundreds, even thousands of extremely tasty tomato soup recipes out there. I have two recipes,  one suitable for cold weather, and one for hot weather. The first one is a tomato soup with homemade quadretti pasta, smoked sausage and poached egg. The second one is a tomato cream, flavored with roasted garlic and fresh basil and served with laced parmesan chips.

The cream of tomato soup is so welcomed during hot summer days, when the tomatoes are in season. It is a veritable flavor, color and texture symphony and it is so easy to make. I half or quarter the tomatoes, depending on their size, I drizzle them with olive oil and I roast them until they caramelize; this extra step augments the soup’s flavor. I serve this soup with adorable parmesan chips, which give the dish not only flavor, but also an elegant touch. Continue reading Creamy Tomato Soup with Parmesan Chips

Cream of Carrot Soup

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Carrot cream

Carrots

I’ve finally found a recipe for cream of carrot soup that doesn’t taste like baby food. It is made from roasted carrots and fennel, two vegetables that go so well together. I must confess that I picked my carrots from my garden this morning, on a warm summer rain. It sounds enchanting, doesn’t it? So, I chopped the vegetables, I drizzled some olive oil and I roasted them in the oven, just to enhance their flavor. After they were nice and brown, I simmered them in vegetable soup, with red onion, wine and thyme. At the end I flavored the soup with some fragrant roasted garlic. The result was a delicious and hearty soup. The funny thing is that only long after I enjoyed this divine soup I realized that it was in fact vegan. My family never suspected! Continue reading Cream of Carrot Soup

Creamy Broccoli and Ricotta Soup

PlatingBroccoli & sweet pea soupMinty brocolli soup

I love veggie creams so much, not because I am lazy (fine … that too, I admit), but because creams are a great method to include more vegetables in your diet. In my case it’s difficult to pick a favorite, in general I like everything that’s savory and creamy. Anyway, this broccoli and ricotta soup, which is a relatively recent discovery, has quickly become my obsession. It’s so rich, smooth and fragrant, and the subtle minty flavor gives this dish such a nice touch. Continue reading Creamy Broccoli and Ricotta Soup