The days of Summer are dwindling and Autumn is just around the corner. Before we know it, the once bountiful harvest of vine-ripened tomatoes, sweet peppers and baby eggplants will fade into the sunset until next season. But, the one vegetable that seems to hang on the longest is summer squash.
However grateful you might be for the generous neighbor who shares her garden’s bounty … if you’re running out of ideas to use this prolific produce, turn it into soup. Not only is this recipe quick and easy to prepare, you can repay the kindness of your neighbor with a jar of homemade soup. The recipe can be doubled as needed and the amount of broth and/or pasta can be altered as you prefer. I used crookneck squash but, you can also use zucchini or both. To further show your appreciation, you could include a loaf of olive oil zucchini bread too!
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups pureed summer squash
- 2 Cups chicken broth
- 1/2 Cup small pasta, cooked (I used small shells)
- 1/4 Cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated, plus more for garnish
- Sea salt
- Lemon pepper
- To make the puree, slice the squash in half, lengthwise. With a sharp paring knife, score the flesh deeply (be careful to not cut through the bottom) in a diamond cross-hatch pattern. This is accomplished by making a few cuts at a steep angle and then rotate the squash to make another set of similar cuts).
- Generously, drizzle each half with olive oil on the cut-side and using your fingers, rub the oil all over the surface. Alternatively, you could brush on the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.
- On a parchment-lined baking sheet, place each squash half, cut-side down. Roast in preheated 400 degree oven 30-40 minutes (depending on size of squash).
- Using a blender, puree the squash with the chicken broth by pulsing until you get the desired consistency. I prefer to leave it a bit chunky but, you could blend it until it’s completely smooth if you prefer.
- Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and add the cooked pasta. Heat the soup if it has cooled off. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
- To serve, ladle into bowls and top with additional cheese.
