Yellow Summer Squash and Basil Soup

Huzzah! I finally discovered the secret to keeping stems of basil fresh and vibrant for longer than an hour, thanks to a tip that made me slap my forehead, it was so obvious! A reliable source suggested I trim the stems and change the water every few days. I’ve been told to keep basil as I would fresh cut flowers, in a container of water on the counter, but I guess I never carried that logic far enough.

So, it’s been 4 days and the basil is still looking good. Being the pessimist that I am, though, I’m anxious that the spell will break at any moment. We’ve eaten plenty of delicious tomato salads, but I still wanted to find a non-pesto way to use quite a bit of the basil at once. I also had 3 beautiful farmers market yellow squash in the veggie drawer just waiting to be turned delicious. Inspired by the zucchini soup recipe posted a few days ago, here’s what I created:

2 Tbs olive oil or bacon fat or combo
1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4 or 5 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
½ carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 small stalk celery, leaves included, if possible, roughly chopped
3 medium-sized summer squash, roughly chopped. Trim the yucky tips off the stem end but save the stem ends to infuse the broth.
2 stems parsley w/leaves
2 stems basil w/leaves
2 1-inch pieces of cheese rind (from a hard grating cheese like Locatelli or Manchego)
1 generous glug Pinot Grigio
1 small bay leaf
1/3 C Arborio rice
1 C basil leaves, torn
Sprinkle of hot pepper flakes
Water
Salt and pepper

In a 3-quart saucepan, over medium heat, sweat onions, garlic, celery, and carrot for a few minutes in the olive oil or bacon fat. Add squash. Let cook a few minutes before adding a pinch of salt. Continue cooking 7 - 10 minutes until veg (excluding carrots) become opaque and very close to tender (including carrots).

Add enough water to cover all of the vegetables, and to go over them by about ½ to ¼ inch. Add a pinch more salt, black pepper, a generous glug of Pinot Grigio, bay leaf, parsley stems, cheese rinds, and squash tops and bring to boil.

When the concoction is boiling, add 1/3 C Arborio rice. Continue to cook at boiling until rice is tender, or even a bit overcooked, about another 10 -12 minutes. At this point, the veg should be very tender as well.

Turn off heat and remove bay leaf, parsley stems, cheese rinds and squash tops. Taste for salt and pepper, and add if necessary.

Add a sprinkle of red pepper flake and 2 or 3 basil stems that you’ve crumpled between your hands. Allow to cool. When cool, remove basil stems and add a bunch of torn basil leaves.

Purée with an immersion blender, or in a regular blender until as smooth as possible. Taste again for seasoning and reseason if necessary before your last purée episode.

Serve hot or cold. If serving cold, garnish as described in the zucchini soup recipe on this blog. I froze some for summery savor in the middle of winter.

You could use potatoes as the thickener in this soup, and please do if you’re making it for my father. I didn’t have any potatoes on hand when I made this, but I had plenty of rice. I think the rice actually worked out really well because the immersion blender didn’t have to decimate big ol’ chunks of potato. The little overcooked rice grains were no match for it.