I feel like Mary Poppins would be a really wonderful soup maker.
I’m not talking about the spoonful of sugar.
It’s that magical purse she carries around. If she can pull a coat rack and house plant out of her nanny bag, imagine the things she could coax from a giant soup pan. Dreams! I imagine the most lovely and effortlessly delicious soup, with a dash of cream like whaaat!?
Wait… can Mary Poppins make us all soup forever and always?
I wonder if Mary Poppins has wasabi peas and a baguette in her purse. Probably.
I made this soup on a day that I needed soup… and a day when I needed soup to be easy.
This zucchini soup went from coarsely chopped veggies, to a hot broth bath, to blender soup magic. It’s incredibly simple and majorly satisfying.
This soup can be as meaty or vegan as you’d like. It’s entirely flexible. Chicken stock versus vegetable stock. Butter versus olive oil. A sprinkling of parmesan cheese or a smattering of chopped toasted almonds. Tarragon is essential. It has a bright anise-like flavor that really compliments the base zucchini flavor.
Adding a bit of cream to finish is decadent, but the soup is dang delicious without it. I made the soup with and without cream and I happened to eat the entire bowl of cream-laced soup… just sayin’.
This soup recipe comes from the center of my stack of Spring reading inspiration. The new Daphne Oz book, Relish is disarmingly sweet and has some really lovely recipes that inspire sharing and caring. Also… I think reread East Of Eden because it tears my heart apart then puts it back together-ish. Lastly, kitten toe hair is a thing. I can’t deal (but I can).
Creamy Zucchini Tarragon Soup
recipe from Relish
serves 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium sweet yellow onion, about 1 1/2 cups
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 medium zucchini, chopped, about 5 cups
2 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves, plus more for garnish
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream, optional
white truffle oil for garnish, optional
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute more. Add zucchini and tarragon leaves and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring often. Add the wine and deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until zucchini is cooked through and soft.
Transfer soup to a blender, place a towel over the blender and puree until smooth. You can also use an immersion blender. Return the soup to the pot and stir in cream, if using. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with a drizzle of white truffle oil and a few tarragon leaves.
88 Responses
My umpteenth time making this soup at the end of August when the zucchini supply begins to dwindle and a warm soup on a breezy evening is just a good idea. Even zucchini-deniers love it. Thank you Joy!
Love this soup. So good.
Please amend your ‘print the receipt’ programme. It wasted 3 sheets of my printer paper and ink with ‘junk’ before printing the actual recipe. But I do look look forward to trying it!
so sorry about that margaret.
Everything that I’ve tried of yours has been delicious and this is no exception!! Now I finally know what to do with all those zucchini from the garden this summer! I need to buy every cookbook you have stat- keep up the good work ????
Thank you so much Amy! That’s so sweet Amy! Good thing I have two books out, and working on a third!
This soup looks fabulous, and I love zucchini! Thanks
My 2 year old LOVES this soup … and we had a hearty tarragon crop this year, so I’ve been making it constantly. One thing I do differently – I wait to add the tarragon until the soup is done but before I puree it. The hot soup still takes on the tarragon flavor, but it’s a lot brighter.
Joy,
If you had to choose 2 books for a wannabe baker/pastry chef – what would you choose?
I love this soup. I just threw a jalapeno in the pot. I’m not sorry. :)
Is there a substitute for wine. I do not drink alcohol. Thanks
you can just add more vegetable or chicken stock.
This is very good thank you
wow, this sounds amazing!!!
I made this soup two days after I saw the post. It was delicious! Minus the cream and its rather low fat!
Just made this and it was delish! Thanks, Joy. :)
I love this thought. Mary Poppins absolutely would have been a great soup maker.
This is on my hob now and will be dinner tonight! Smells fab!
Up here in Alaska my friends and I call kitty toe hair “Extra Tufts,” because we humans all wear rubber boots called “Xtra Tufs.” I love those extra tufts.
Your pictures are so crisp and neat. It’s finally zucchini season! Looks delicious!
Mary Poppins always brings back great childhood memories! And I’m digging this soup — so refreshing :)
Looks so good! Love your blog, and can’t wait to try out some recipes. I just started my blog http://www.lyndsaynicole.blogspot.com. Would love a follow back :)
Thank you for a wonderful recipe and a delightful post. This will be the perfect soup when the zucchini is coming in fast and furious in the garden. You’ve given me the nudge I needed to pull the old Vitamix and give it whirl. Thanks so much!
I love zucchini, can’t wait to try this. I will probably use the cheddar cheese suggestion instead of the heavy cream. But what the heck might even try both :)
That soup looks extremely delicious! I love zucchini. :D
This looks delish! However, what does it mean to deglaze the bottom of the pan?
I’ve been looking for a good spring soup recipe, this looked so delicious i went out and bought all the ingredients last night, except I forgot the tarragon.. damn! the union square whole foods is far too crazy to venture back into, so my soup making has been postponed.. now the anticipation has built even more!
The cat paws are heartbreaking (in a good way!).
Ah Mary Poppins … I trusted her so much…
How many time did I try to snap my fingers to clean my bedroom magically ?… sigh …
Never know what to do with zucchini in my garden… here is a great option!
love the little guy lurking behind your books haha
Your pictures make me smile. :) Keep up the great work.
Em
This soup sounds delish!
Though, not gonna lie, the real reason I’m commenting is because I really want to know more about this “Absolutely Avocados” book in your stack of lovely books!
Delightful flavours!
JOY. Ok, soup is great. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY!!! I can’t even stand that you are in love with East of Eden, too!!!! Your copy looks as well loved and several-times-read as mine. I read it the first time the summer before high school and have read it nearly every year since. My copy has all of my favorite parts/passages underlined (so like…most of the book) and ev.er.y time I read it I have to read the “timshel” passage twice in a row, it is so powerful. I totes named my parents’ dog “Steinbeck”. No bigs. (Ok, nerd freak out over.)
Yes, I too know that kitty toe hair is a real thing. It is fun to tickle…but only if kitty is not sleeping when you try it. I love this photo of your cat…even though his handsome face is hidden.
Can’t wait to try this soup…it looks yummy.
YUM! Trying this soon!
xo Lisa
Making Life’s Lemons
Yum, this looks good. I’m a big soup fan. I even made a chilled soup during our recent socal heat wave. Do you think this soup would be good cold too?
I am so happy you posted this today! I have zero food in my pantry but I do have zucchini, tarragon and a lone onion! Going to veganize this for dinner tonight. Perfect.
Did you have this soup hot? I bet it’d be good cold, too, with some goat cheese & arugula crostini, or something like that!
i served the soup hot, but i think it could totally work as a cold soup too!
I don’t know how you feel about the movie version of “East of Eden,” it’s the first time I ever saw James Dean act. If you’ve not seen it, you MUST. His acting is just shockingly good. I was floored. And I’m a picky creature, not wowed by histrionics. It hurt SO good.
And the actress who plays his romantic interest, her voice is forever burned on my brain, so even when she’s 70-something and acting today, I IMMEDIATELY recognize it and hear her cry out “Cal!” *sigh*
I should read that pup.
Kitty toe fur drives me crazy w/happiness. So many kitty details are excruciatingly charming. Hurts so good. =)
(oh, yeah, the food looks great, too. =) Husband adores zucc, and it’s near planting time!)
xoxoxo!
oh my gosh… i’ve actually never seen the movie version! i know what i’m doing this week!
Seeing Tender in your stack made. my. day. I LOVE Nigel Slater. Can we be friends? Seriously, though. I live in Santa Barbara and I would bring you homegrown friendship tomatoes and make Thai food for you. I feel like we could be bffs.
are your bribing me with tomatoes and thai food!? YES!
I am totally bribing you! Unashamedly. If you ever need a little Santa Barbara holiday (and who doesn’t, really), shoot me an email. I’ll clear my shedule and drag my kitchen table out to my little garden and you can come eat Thai among my rose bushes (which are blooming all over the place). How’s that for an offer, eh? :)
I am not a zucchini fan. It is one of 2 veggies I just don’t like (along with eggplant). However, this makes zucchini seem actually delicious and appealing! :-) And what memories this brings back!
My Mom used to make a simpler version, made from zucchini out of our garden, that she named “Oooh La La Zucchini Soup.” My sister and I did not think there was anything “Oooh” or “La La” about it, ha, ha! Once, in an effort to make it taste better, while my Mom had her back turned, we added sugar. Needless to say, this did NOT make it taste better! But of course we couldn’t say anything and had to somehow swallow it down. Ugh. My first “cooking” lesson!
At any rate, while I may not necessarily make this myself, I am sure others would love it…so I shared it on our “Saucy Soups” Pinterest board: https://pinterest.com/deliciouskarma/saucy-soup.
sugar makes everything better, right!? wrong. sooo funny.
East of Eden has somehow escaped my reading list…It’s on it now! Thank you for this lovely recipe.
you must you must!
Delicious creamy!!
Looks delicious! I love the cat-behind-the-bookstack photo.
I’m loving that photo of cat and books! The zucchini and tarragon soup sounds wonderful. Oh, and the reviewer who wrote about a zucchini pizza. Hmmmmm. Visions of zucchini dance in my head!
easy soups are always welcome :) i have never cooked with tarragon ever though
That soup looks delicious but I’m mostly just dying over that cat picture. Cats are so weird.
yum.
i just realized how boring that comment was, but damn, that’s all i could think of when i saw this.
yum is totally right!
I now sound like a crazy lady squealing with delight at your adorable kitty book stack! Oh well, people pretty much think that already, on another note I randomly yelled out “MARY POPPINS!” while out with my boyfriend yesterday because I saw someone that looked like her, complete with an umbrella. He didn’t look up from his phone then asked why I just yelled that for no good reason other than being weird.
i think we should be friends.
This looks so fabulous, Joy!! Yum!
This looks amazing.my favourite green.
I think i may need to try this tonight. I have a soup-obsessed toddler and a zuke about to go. And if I make zucchini tacos one more time, I may just scream.
zucchini tacos actually sound really good right now.
Oh, I need to re-read East of Eden as well. It’s just so good.
And the soup looks wonderful!
Yummy I need to make this soup.
That soup looks so creamy and I love that you can make it vegan! I used to be totally turned off by green soup when I was little. I have horrible memories of a pea soup…but now I can’t get enough green! I’ll be trying this one for sure.
I love it when you go all vegan for a second :)
hahaha!
Yum I love zucchini and tarragon. This soup is like summer in in a bowl!
I need to buy a copy of Tender! I’ve been on a zucchini kick (if I can call it that) and have just been eating this white pizza with thinly sliced zucchini and thyme and oodles of olive oil (obsessed with it ever since I ate it in Rome) and this soup looks like just the thing for a bit of variation.
Loves divine! Always nice to add a new soup to my repetoire.
Photos are lovely as always!
xo Quinn
Quinn Cooper Style
I like my soup meaty so I’m going with chicken and butter.
I am so old I remember going to see Mary Poppins movie as a child, sigh. Still remember most of the songs as well. The kat is cool as a cucumber lurking behind the books. I deeply love Nigel Slater’s books and food, the books are in my kitchen for inspiration and admiration, and cooking from. I make a zucchini soup in summer which has risotto rice, thyme, parsley and lots of lemon juice, it is splendid. As are you and your recipes and your integrity as a human bean.
Joy, I recently attempted your tomato zucchini soup and it was rad! You make zucchini taste awesome in all sorts of ways, I have to try this one tonight!
Mary Poppins would have been able to make soup for the world twice or thrice around! Ah, I need soup.
If Mary Poppins made this soup, of course it would have to be called courgette tarragon soup. And it might have to be made in a kitchen with a low ceiling. But it would still be lovely.
i can’t handle (and can) the little ears above your stack of books. i feel they go well with kitten toe hairs. and… i’ve never tried a zucchini soup, but am very intrigued by the fresh tarragon in this soup. certainly enough to give this recipe a try!
Love your stack of books!
And blender soup magic…yes, those are the best kinds of soups! And tarragon…not a frequently used herb for me but I really like it and thanks for the reminder to use it more!
Omg I love Mary Poppins! That was one of my all time fav Disney movies growing up. I watched it on VHS over and over countless times. Thanks for bringing back memories of simpler times! I’d bet she would make the bestest soups. She’s Mary Poppins! She’d have all kinds of ingredients in that purse of hers..maybe she’d pull out some booze too (Mary Poppins for grown up version) to go with that soup!