Sunday, August 8, 2010

Creamy Zucchini, Garlic & Chive Soup - or Zucchinicremesuppe - Austrian Style

Before I visited Vienna, the last thing I would have associated with the schnitzel-loving city was,  of all things, excellent  vegetable soups.  But in restaurant after restaurant, I had some of the best cream soups of my life, from karotten (carrot) to knoblauch (garlic) to brokkoli to zucchini.
All of these soups featured the vegetable in question prominently, but they also all had a strong garlic note that was always well balanced by the copious amounts of sweet heavy cream. Given the time of year we were there (March) I suspect many soups also contained barlauch, that curious chive-like plant that Poppa Trix and I tried in the Vienna Woods after we saw locals picking it:


Sadly there's no barlauch in Baltimore, so for my Austrian-style zucchinicremesuppe I went with chives to try to recreate some of that wild chive-y onion-y flavor, and rather than cream, I used Middle Eastern labne - sort of a cross between sour cream and yogurt. To balance out the garlic, I threw in a few new potatoes and a squeeze or two of lemon, for brightness, and I served it with a dollop of creme fraiche. The result was a lighter, more summer-y version of those luscious Viennese soups - and there was absolutely no sacrifice in flavor.

Austrian-Style Zucchini, Garlic & Chive "Cream" Soup
1 large shallot, chopped
4-5 new or fingerling potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 large zucchini, roughly chopped:
1 whole garlic bulb, cloves minced
handful of chives, chopped
enough vegetable broth to cover the vegetables
1- 11/2 cup labne
1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

In a stockpot over medium heat, saute the shallots in olive oil until fragrant. Add the potatoes, zucchini, a few pinches of salt and some fresh ground black pepper and saute for a few minutes more. 
Add the chives and garlic; stir.


Add just enough vegetable broth to cover the vegetables plus about a quarter inch of liquid, cover  and simmer until very tender.  Next, take some of the hot liquid and temper the labne:

Slowly add all  of the labne into the soup and stir to combine. Next, whizz with an immersion blender until the desired consistency. 
I made mine very smooth - you could go crazy and strain it, but I didn't.  Now add the lemon juice and adjust  the seasonongs - more salt, pepper, lemon juice - to taste.  

Serve with creme fraiche and garnish with chive and lemon peel. 

Guten appetit!





26 comments:

  1. Wow, this soup looks good! I enjoyed your photos, nice look into the forest outside Vienna:-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. My Austrian father loves sups, its in the blood I guess. This would be great served chilled to on a really hot day. Love the labne use.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You inspired me so I went out into the garden and decided to use my summer squash for a light soup, tonight... but I did copy down your recipe for the future... thank you for sharing and I loved the photos...

    Twitter: SolarChief

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a lovely dish - and fascinating to read how you adapted the dish in your own kitchen from what you had in Vienna! I'm thinking it would be delightful cold too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful...talk about tales from the vienna woods!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mmmmm ... lovely, creamy, comforting ... ah, I could go on. And I adore that little soup cup! It's so ... chinese. But the soup doesn't look 'odd' in it. Great serving idea! :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. wow great soup you always have the coolest recipes

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great idea to use labne in this! I enjoy it when used in restaurant dishes but somehow forget that I can use it myself too. Looks lovely :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've been seeing perfect little zucchini for sale all over. What a terrific use for them! I just love the idea of using labne in a cream soup.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gorgeous zucchini soup. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have used labneh in soups before too; just not in zucchini soup! this is a splendid soup and I will keep it in mind as we do get a huge drop of zucchini all summer long!

    ReplyDelete
  12. ooo, pretty and delicious. i really like the substitutions you made to make the soup lighter, too.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lovely! It looks so creamy and flavorful!

    ReplyDelete
  14. That little cup of yum is so pretty in the bowl you have it in--enough so that even I would love a spoonful! (Usually I'm a zuke lover only when it appears in cakes or breads--does that surprise you?!) Soups feed my soul any time of year--this one is a keeper. . . again! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  15. now this is a soup for me, love the cream, the flavors of the vegs and sunny brightness of lemon has just gotta dance smoothly on the palette...

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a pretty soup, love the photo. I've never heard of a zucchini soup, great idea.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hey Trix, um, excuse me-yum! :). This looks so good. I make a soup kind of like this-it's Algerian. I never thought to post it, but maybe I should...
    By the way, your photos are so pretty. Is that a table or your deck? I love the rustic look of it...

    ReplyDelete
  18. yummy yummy! That looks so refreshing and deliciously comforting at the same time. Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a great idea to use up zucchinis! I like the taste of zucchini, but not the texture of it cooked, so a blended soup would be perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Never would have thought of labne in the soup... cool idea Trix and it looks gorgeous in the photos... love the texture.

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a fantastic soup...beautiful :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Dannggg this soup looks so good! Great pics too!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I love zucchini, usually just stir fry them. I have never tried in soup. This looks very delicious. Would love to try. Thanks very much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  24. That looks delish! You should try my favorite split pea soup with kielbasa- it amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  25. another wonderful photo and soup, this looks awesome, so pretty~

    ReplyDelete