Zucchini Cheddar Soup

Even though it has really warmed up this week in Michigan (yay!), it was pretty chilly on Sunday, so I made soup to go with our Manchego Squash Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.  I saw this recipe on Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice and pinned it immediately.  I love zucchini, but I don't think I've ever made soup with it before.  I mean, I've added it to soup (Slow Cooker Italian Beef & Vegetable Soup), but I've never made zucchini the star of the soup before.  I don't know what I was waiting for; it's great!


Zucchini Cheddar Soup


Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
5 cups zucchini, peeled and diced (about 3 medium)
3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup half & half or heavy cream, optional


Directions:
In a large sauce pan heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add onion and carrot; saute until tender 5-10 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic; saute until fragrant.  Add thyme and season well with salt and pepper.


Add diced zucchini to the pan and toss well, cook 2 to 3 minutes.  Add broth and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes.


Turn off heat and puree soup using an immersion blender or carefully transfer to a stand blender. Hold a dish towel over the lid before turning on so the steam doesn't blow the top off and splash hot soup everywhere! Puree in batches until smooth.


Return soup to pan.  Add cheese and half & half, if desired. Bring to a simmer 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.


Makes 4 servings.

I wouldn't have thought to pair zucchini with cheddar, but it works.  You can use dried basil instead of the thyme, but I think thyme goes really well with zucchini for some reason.

Apparently the zucchini I bought were on the small side.  The original recipe called for 2 large zucchini, and I knew mine weren't large, but I thought they were medium, so I got three.  After chopping it all up, I had less than 4 cups.  Oops!  I wasn't about to run to the store this far in, so I just decreased the amount of broth to 2 cups.  In pureed soups like this, it's always a good idea to be conservative with the broth to start off, and then after it's pureed, you can always add more to reach the consistency you want.  Two cups ended up being perfect for the amount of zucchini I had.

The soup looked (and tasted) so good that I didn't add the half and half.  I think the cheese makes it creamy enough.

I love making soup when it's cold and pureed veggie soups are some of my favorite.  As long as there is decent-looking zucchini at the store this winter, I know I'll be making this again.

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