Zucchini Soup with Rice

Name: Zucchini Soup with Rice and Cream Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Zucchini or summer squash 1-2; Water 4 cups (800 ml); Rice 3 tbsp (41 g); Onion 1; Parsley 2-3 sprigs; Basil 1-2 sprigs; Cream or milk 100 ml; Olive oil 2 tbsp; Sugar 1 tsp (5 g); Salt, white or black pepper to taste

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1 h

To be honest, a zucchini soup is the last thing that would have come to mind; we are just not used to it. Yet in Mediterranean cooking, soups made from zucchini, courgettes and pattypan squash are quite common. Italian cuisine, for example, which already uses fresh vegetables in abundance, has not overlooked zucchini when it comes to first courses.

A common vegetable in Italian cooking is zucchine, which means «little pumpkin», also called «Italian squash». It is a very tasty vegetable, very healthy and easy to digest. It is also, which matters, easy to cook, and a regular on all sorts of diets thanks to its very low calorie count: just 16-20 kcal per 100 g.

Zucchini is a variety of summer squash, a plant of the gourd family native to the Americas. It is considered the tastiest and most popular variety. And as with any squash, the younger the fruit, the tastier it is. In some countries the zucchini flowers are eaten too, and, by the way, when properly prepared the dishes turn out superb.

This is not the kind of first course we are used to, like pea soup. This zucchini soup is something completely different and wonderful! The soup is light and filling thanks to the rice. The herbs make it healthy, and the cream or milk gives it a delicate, almost creamy taste.

Ingredients

2 servings

Zucchini or summer squash 1-2
Water 4 cups (800 ml)
Rice 3 tbsp (41 g)
Onion 1
Parsley 2-3 sprigs
Basil 1-2 sprigs
Cream or milk 100 ml
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Sugar 1 tsp (5 g)
Salt, white or black pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Zucchini and onion

To make zucchini soup, take small, very young zucchini. It is believed that the smaller the zucchini, the tastier it is.

Prepare the zucchini. If it is very young, you don’t need to peel it; peel more mature ones. If seeds have already formed inside and the flesh is not quite tender, it is better to cut out the inner part. Dice the zucchini.
Boil the zucchini. Bring 4 cups of water (800 ml) to a boil in a pot over high heat, add 1 tsp of sugar (5 g) and cook the zucchini over medium heat for 10 minutes.
While the zucchini cooks, prepare the onion: peel it and cut into thin strips. Fry lightly in 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat, then simmer covered over low heat until soft, but before the onion starts to change color.

Soup

Cook the rice with the zucchini and onion. Pour half of the liquid from the cooked zucchini into a separate cup, as you will need it again. Add 3 tbsp of rinsed rice (41 g) to the zucchini, a high-starch one; Italian arborio or carnaroli will do. Once the liquid starts to boil, add the fried onion and cook for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Add 100 ml (half a cup) of cream or milk to the soup, stir and bring to a boil. By now the rice will be almost done and will have absorbed most of the liquid. Add back the liquid left from boiling the zucchini, then season with salt and white or black pepper.
Cook the soup until the rice is completely done: the rice should be slightly overcooked, as in zucchini risotto.

Serving

Ladle the finished zucchini soup into bowls and add finely chopped parsley and basil.
Garnish with a sprig of herbs. You can serve it with toasted white bread.

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Calories and macros

355 kcal

Serving ≈ 690 g

Protein6 g7% of kcal
Fat24 g62% of kcal
Carbs28 g32% of kcal

100 g52 kcalProtein 0.9 gFat 3.5 gCarbs 4.1 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.