19538616880_b2dff68b5a_k

I’ve never really been a soup person. I think this stems back to living in shared houses when someone would always make a vegetable soup with all the leftover rubbery carrots and cabbage cores that had been quietly seeing out their final weeks in the salad drawer. This ‘soup’ would always end up too thick – a vegetable sludge – which is down to the fact that everyone, when they first make a soup, thinks that it’s just about sticking everything in a pot and then blending it up. The novice soup maker has no care for the balance of flavours in the soup, nor the consistency of it. We’ve all made that vat of murky brown/green paste and been stuck with it for a week. If you’re a student then it’s preferable to leave it in the fridge for months until the smell is reminiscent of The Bog of Eternal Stench. Finally, someone else throws it away. That involves a combination of forcing down the sink (it’s too solid) and dribbling into the bin (it’s too liquid). I am scarred.

Only certain hot soups are acceptable to me now (tomato, French onion, bisque) but I am very much into most of the cold ones (gazpacho, ajo blanco and all those that fall into the yoghurt category).

This soup uses courgettes, as you’ve probably gathered. It’s light, summery, fresh and cooling. You can warm it gently though if you prefer, particularly since the weather is so unpredictable. A few edible flowers (chives, pansies) on top would look very pretty as a garnish if you have them.

Chilled Courgette and Yoghurt Soup

(serves 4-6)

Approx. 1kg courgettes halved, seeds removed and diced
3 shallots, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
300ml good chicken stock
3-4 tablespoons whole fat natural yoghurt
Olive oil and chives, to garnish

Sweat the shallots in a little oil until translucent, then add crushed garlic and spices. Cook for a few mins, stirring. Add the courgettes, then cook on a medium heat until softened. Add the stock and cook briefly until it smells awesome. Season with salt and pepper.

Blitz in a food processor (you know the rules here, right? Don’t put too much in at once). Allow to cool, then add the yoghurt. Blitz again, then pass through a sieve. When fully chilled, check the seasoning again, ladle into bowls, garnish with a dribble of olive oil and the chives, snipped. Serve.

19147462602_4f4aadcae2_k

Hot, isn’t it? Yes yes. Very hot. At times like these, a sorbet in the house is a life-saver. I’ve been standing in front of the freezer door, the chilly mist spreading over my face, eating this straight from the tub. It’s wonderful.

I am often of the opinion that recipes can be improved, flavour-wise, with a touch of alcohol. In the case of sorbet though, it has the added benefit of smoothing the texture, as it lowers the freezing point making the sorbet easier to scoop. How many times have you made a sorbet, frozen it a while, then removed the tub to find a rock hard block of ice? Yeah. The egg whites make things lighter and the filtered water is as pure as you like. Churn on!

Gin and Pink Grapefruit Sorbet Recipe

Juice of 3 grapefruits
Juice of 1 orange
225g caster sugar
2 egg whites (or just one if your eggs are large, mine were very small)
100ml gin

Put the sugar in a saucepan with 450ml BRITA filtered water. Bring to the boil, cook for 5 minutes, then allow to cool completely.

Juice the grapefruits and orange, then strain through a sieve into the cooled syrup. Stir in the gin. Whip the egg white to stiff peaks in a clean, dry bowl, then mix into the liquid using a metal spoon. Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn. Freeze for a few hours before serving.

I created this recipe for the Better with BRITA campaign.