Cream of vegetable summary
This vegetable soup is a weekly staple at home. We eat it for dinner quite often, and it's always a mix of whatever we have on hand. I'd never used lettuce leaves in soups before, but a few months ago I tried it, and since then I don't mind using them when I'm making a vegetable soup from the fridge.
Ingredients · Servings 4
- 1 zucchini
- 100g green beans
- 1 small onion
- ½ leek
- 125 g of lamb's lettuce
- ½ lettuce
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 vegetable concentrate tablet
- 200g of water —approximately, read the tips—
- 1 tablespoon of cream or cream cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- A little oregano
- Some leaves of lamb's lettuce
Method · 25 min
- Wash the zucchini and chop it without peeling, discarding the ends. Wash the green beans, trim the ends, and chop them. Cut the onion into large pieces. Peel the outer layer of the leek, wash it well, and chop the green part into fairly large pieces, even if they're uneven, because it will cook later. Reserve the white part for another recipe.
- Pour 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan and place it over heat. When the oil is hot, add the green part of the leek and the onion. Reduce the heat slightly and stir.
- After a couple of minutes, add the zucchini, green beans, lamb's lettuce, and lettuce leaves. Stir for another half minute.
- Add the water —read the tips— and the vegetable stock cube and let it cook for about 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, check the remaining water, and decide if you need to remove some. Each vegetable releases a certain amount of water, and it's better to start with less and add more at the end than to end up with a watery mess from the beginning. At this point, add a tablespoon of cream or a tablespoon of cream cheese. The flavor is subtle, but it adds a wonderful touch.
- Pass it through a food mill or, if you're in a hurry, with a blender.
- Add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Stir and taste. If you use a bouillon cube, you usually don't need to adjust the salt. If it's too thick, add a little of the cooking water and stir. Optionally, you can add a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar, which enhance the flavors.
- Grate the cheese and make small mounds on a sheet of baking paper placed on a baking tray.
- Sprinkle a little oregano over half of the mounds.
- Turn on the broiler, put the tray in, and keep a close eye on them because they brown very quickly. Take the tray out, and once they've cooled slightly, you can handle them carefully; they're fragile.
- Serve the cream hot. Top with a few small leaves of lamb's lettuce, which add a lovely touch, and arrange the cheese garnish as you wish.
Cream of vegetable soup recipe summary
For decoration
To prepare the comb
