It’s winter and it’s finally time for soup! There probably are millions of recipes for soups with interesting ingredients and unusual combinations, but this particular one is easy, inexpensive and delicious.
I wish I could say I came up with it, but my parents are the real authors of this masterpiece. I call this, zuppa alle zucchine (zucchini soup)…yeah, not very creative, but isn’t it that the simplest things are the best things? Right.
ZUPPA ALLE ZUCCHINE
3 zucchini
1 leek
3 potatoes (and they can be of any kind)
1 onion or Shallots
1 clove of garlic
celery (at your discretion)
1 vegetable bouillon
salt and pepper
First, peel and chop the veggies and put them all into a bowl. I happen to love blue potatoes because not only they have a sweet after taste, but they also make the entire soup a deep green color. Let’s face it, you want your soups to look good. Am I right?
Once the vegetables are ready in the bowl, pour them into a pressure cooker, my new best friend. Cooking with steam is faster (remember Speedy Gonzalez? Apparently, according to this article, it cooks food 70% faster using 50% less fuel. A win, win if you ask me), but it also keeps the food’s nutrients intact.


Add salt, pepper and a bit of extra virgin olive oil either before cooking with pressure or after, when the vegetables are ready to be blended. (Above)

Once the soup is fine, or coarse, depending on your taste, move into your bowl of choice.
It takes more time thinking about this recipe than actually executing it.
Vocabulary:
La zucchina – zucchini Le zucchine – zucchini (plural)
Il porro – leek I porri – leeks (plural)
La patata – potato Le patate – potatoes (plural)
La cipolla – onion Le cipolle – onions (plural)
Il sedano – celery
Il sale – salt
Il pepe – pepper
mmmmmmhhh! very good!!!