Summer Squash Soup

(My camera was having issues yesterday, this is sadly the only picture I have of this extraordinary dish...use your imagination...)

I had planned to write about another meal today, but I made this last night and it just seems cruel to withhold this delicious concoction that I am now privy to while all my friends aren't. So, I'm just going to cut right to the chase here: I loved this soup. Please, put whatever you had planned to make for dinner next on hold and run to the grocery store for this list of ingredients. Don't forget the pistou - it will make it unforgettable. This soup is genius and is officially my new favorite soup! I had my reservations - I mean, a soup made out of summer squash? But, I trust in Smitten Kitchen (don't we all), and I wanted something to do with summer squash other than sautee it up or put it in my favorite casserole, which is, well, amazing, but let's face it, you can only eat so much of your favorite casserole.

Plus, it has a ton of vegetables.

And my 18 month old ate a whole bowl of it!

And my fair-weather-eater toddler ate 5 bites without coaxing.

Yessss.

So, I don't have a fancy schmancy immersion blender, just a normal Hamilton Beach one, so it wasn't as velvety smooth as Smitten talked about, but that didn't bother me one bit (obviously). You could also carefully just blend it in a normal blender as well.

Oh, this soup was so good - can I say it enough? The soup and pistou had such complimentary flavors...it was just perfection. If you need a larger, heavier dinner for your family, you can add salad, bread, etc. to the meal. We had it with rosemary toast and basically had like 4 bowls each until it was gone, but that was just us. I'll be making it a few times this winter...and if you know anything about my usual rotation you know that is one extraordinary soup.

Ok, I hope I haven't gushed your expectations into the realm of unrealistic here, but please, try this and tell me if I'm the only one still longing for more of its goodness even though it has long since been eaten into nothingness.

Oh, and I doubled the scallions. I like scallions a lot. I also put a lot of salt into the pistou. I liked the balance with the soup's sweetness and the pistou's strong fresh flavor. Putting water into the pistou was also brilliant. I always have to add way to much oil, so that really lightened things up.

5 stars (6 anyone??). Recipe here and below:

Summer-Squash Soup with Parsley-Mint Pistou
Adapted from Gourmet, September 2006

For squash soup
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 lb yellow summer squash, halved and thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 yellow-fleshed potato (1/2 pound), peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
4 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth (use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian)

For pistou**
3/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
1 large scallion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Make soup: Melt butter in a 6- to 8-quart wide heavy pot over moderate heat, then cook onion with salt, stirring, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add squash, carrots, potato, and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool soup, uncovered, 10 minutes.

Working in batches, puree; soup in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids) and transfer to a bowl. Return purée to cleaned pot and thin with water if desired; simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt.

Make pistou while vegetables simmer: Pulse mint, parsley, and scallion in a food processor until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil in a stream, then add water and salt, blending until incorporated.

Swirl 1 tablespoon pistou into each bowl of soup.