I made another easy summer soup on the weekend. Necessity is the mother of invention and I didn’t feel like using those giant zucchinis for baking. This soup turned out to be velvety, creamy and delicious.

1 sweet onion, diced
1 tablespoon butter
5-8 cloves garlic, minced
2 large zucchinis, cubed, about 10 cups
4 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

Peel most of the skin off the zucchinis before you cube them. If you are using younger, smaller ones, you can skip this step.

In a stockpot, sauté the onion in butter until transparent, then add the garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute. Dump in the zucchini with some of the broth and cook, covered, for about twelve minutes until the zucchini is done, stirring several times.

In a blender, puree in batches with the basil and chicken stock until creamy smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I made two batches of this soup. The first time I used a lot of garlic and added a slice of ginger as it was cooking. The second time, since I didn’t have any more chicken stock, I used water, ¼ teaspoon thyme and ½ teaspoon sage. Both versions were excellent.