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Serves
4 as an entree, 6 as a starter
Author Notes
These days I’ve been caught up in using lemon thyme from my herb garden in summer cooking, loving its citrus-floral flavor. Recently, I discovered the thick, tangy creaminess of cultured sour cream. It’s wonderful in cool vegetable side dishes and cold soups. I like to prepare this soup in the morning to give it all day for the flavors to come together as it chills for our supper. —Lizthechef
Ingredients
1 tablespoon
extra virgin olive oil
1
medium-sized white onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds
organic zucchini, trimed, thickly sliced and chopped
1
organic carrot, grated-
Kosher salt and ground white pepper
3 cups
homemade chicken stock
2 tablespoons
fresh lemon thyme leaves, roughly chopped ( any fresh thyme will do)
1 cup
half-and-half
1/2 cup
cultured sour cream (I used “wallaby” from Whole Foods)
1 teaspoon
Meyer lemon zest (any fresh lemon zest)-
Kosher salt and ground white pepper
Directions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat until softened. Add the chopped zucchini, grated carrot and the stock. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, another 10-15 minutes, in covered skillet.
- Remove skillet from heat, uncover and allow mixture to cool for 30 minutes. Puree in blender in batches, keeping mixture slightly “chunky”, then turn pureed soup into a large, non-reactive container. Add the thyme, half-and-half, sour cream and lemon zest. Stir well, then taste and correct seasoning, remembering that flavors will “set” as the day progresses – i.e. don’t oversalt! Chill for at least 6 hours. If desired, garnish with a drizzle of best quality olive oil and a sprig of fresh lemon thyme.