Prep Vegetables

• Core and peel the onion and dice fine. Reserve.
• Clean and dice the celery and reserve.
• Peel the garlic cloves, smash with side of a knife and mince and reserve.
• Thinly slice the courgette (zucchini/green) summer squash (yellow) into small cubes and reserve.
• Prepare the fresh herbs by stripping them from the stems and chop fine. Reserve.

Cook Vegetables

• Using a medium sized pot over medium-high heat, add the oil and bring up to temperature. The oil should be shimmering from the heat, but not smoking.
• To the hot oil, add the onion and celery. Cook until very tender.
• Add the minced garlic and cubed squash. Stir to combine thorougly. Cook until the squash is tender and soft.
• Add the herbs and seasonings to the vegetables (tarragon, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, granulated onion, cayenne, white pepper and salt). Stir to combine and cook together for 5-8 minutes until the mixture has married the seasonings/herbs and vegetables.
• Using a high temperature spatula or large kitchen spoon, check to see if most of the juice has cooked down. The vegetables should be cooked soft, but not browned.
• Deglaze the pot with ½ cup white wine and reduce until the wine has cooked off, or add the vegetable or chicken stock straight away and stir to incorporate. Allow the soup to heat up the stock.
• Make the blonde roux or slurry with corn/potato starch.

For Thickening

Option 1:

• Blonde Roux-Melt 3 tbsp of butter in a sauce/small pot over medium heat.
• Once the butter is melted add 3 tbsp of all purpose flour. Stir to incorporate.
• Allow the flour to cook into the butter for a few minutes before adding it to the soup. The roux should be blonde or lightly golden. (Make more roux, if you desire, for other uses or as you need it.)

Option 2:

• Create a slurry with equal parts corn/potato starch and cold water.

Finishing the Soup

• Once the stock and the soup have come up to temperature (185°-190°F/85°-88°C), add the roux to thicken the soup.
• Stir for 3-4 minutes to incorporate. (If you desire a thicker soup just make more roux and add it in as needed.)
• To make a creamy soup, add the cream and stir to incorporate. For a richer flavor, add a cup of sour cream/creme fraiche and stir to incorporate.
• Allow the soup to marry the flavors and reduce the temperature to warm. Serve immediately or cool completely and store in the refrigerator until needed.

Serving the Cream of Courgette Soup

• Serve the soup hot using 1½ - 2 cups per entrée or 1 cup as an appetizer.
• Garnish with an additional dollop of sour cream, fresh snipped chives and a sprinkling of Pecarino Romano.