Zucchini, Lemon and Dill Soup with Orzo

Perfect with some crisp 'buttery' garlic toasts!

Here's another creamy soup to warm you up this winter, with summery flavours to boot! It's gotten particularly cold here in Ireland, we may even see some snow this evening - I hope so as I haven't actually seen a single snow flake yet this winter! The Canadian in me is in withdrawal :-(

I've been making this soup for quite a while now, you'll have seen it months ago on the daily blog. It gets it creaminess from adding a little potato, a great little trick in making creamy vegan soups! It has great flavour from the lemon and dill and the orzo in there really helps give this soup some body. It's become one of our favourite soups and is particularly handy if you find yourself with a few zucchini's that need using up.

Some recipe notes

♥ I made my vegetable stock with 3 teaspoons of Marigold Vegan Bouillon.

♥ You don't have to be overly exact with the weight of zucchini. I've made this with up to 750g of zucchini and when I've only had about 550g. 
♥ I've given a measure of garlic instead of cloves as the size of cloves can vary wildly. This would be about 5 or 6 small to medium size cloves. The soup is not overly garlicky though.

♥ If you have leftovers the soup will get very thick the next day. Simply thin down with a bit of hot water while reheating and re-season with salt and pepper. All of these photos were actually taken of my leftovers :-)

Creamy Zucchini, Lemon and Dill Soup with Orzo

Serves 4

• 750g zucchini, sliced and quartered (about 3-4 medium)

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 160g onion, chopped (about 1 large)

• 200g potato, peeled and sliced thin (about 1 medium)

• 1 Tbsp chopped garlic

• 1 tsp dried dill

• 800ml vegetable stock (3 1/4 cups)

• ½ tsp lemon zest

• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

• Black pepper

• 100g orzo (dry weight, or 1/2 cup)

Heat the oil and fry the onion with a few grinds of black pepper until soft, stir in the garlic and potato and fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, dill and zucchini, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes and zucchini are really soft, the potato should be falling apart. Stir in the lemon and zest and juice. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile get the water on for the orzo then cook in salted water according to package instructions until tender. Drain well.

Transfer the soup to a blender and blitz until smooth. Return to the pot and bring back to a simmer. Stir in the cooked orzo, taste and season with salt/pepper/lemon juice as you see fit.

This soup goes beautifully with these pan grilled garlic toasts. Simply slice a French baguette on the diagonal, spread with vegan butter on both sides and place on a hot grill pan, cooking both sides until golden then remove and rub a clove of garlic all over one side.

♥

Nutritional Information: based on 1 serving (just soup)

Calories: 249

Protein: 7.6g
Carbs: 40g
Sugar: 7.3g
Fibre: 4g
Fat: 8.3g
Sat Fat: 1.3g
Sodium: 769mg (will vary depending on stock cube/granules used)

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Potato Soup

Bloody Mary Minestrone
with Orzo

♥