Sweet Corn & Zucchini Chowder
Soup in the summer: yay or nay?
I’m in the yay camp, because soup is the perfect vessel for including all the seasonal ingredients you have on hand and need to use up. I love throwing a soup together with whatever I have on hand, and that includes delicious summer veggies like corn, peppers, and zucchini.
All the veggies I used for this soup was either garden grown or bought from our farmer’s market and that is summer dinner goals for me!
This soup comes together easily, starting with cooking a little bacon and then saving it to sprinkle on the top of the soup. The veggies are cooked in the same pan, with half the corn pureéd to give it a creamier texture. Some broth is added, a little half and half gets stirred in, and you’re good to go! We sprinkled the reserved bacon and a bit of cotija cheese on top, but you could use feta or whatever you had on hand that sounded good.
This soup was a hit with my whole family, and we loved the Grilled Flatbread on the side for dipping. Dinner plans: check!
Sweet Corn & Zucchini Chowder
Ingredients
- 6 slices of bacon, diced
- 1 medium onion, small diced
- 1 cup of diced poblano peppers (other mild peppers would work too)
- 2 small/medium zucchini, small diced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 7 medium ears of corn, husked and cut off the cob*
- 1 cup half and half
- Cotija, Feta, or other cheese for topping
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
- Add the onion and pepper to the bacon grease and cook for 5 minutes, or until soft and slightly browned. Add the zucchini and cook for a few minutes until golden.
- Add the smoked paprika, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and stir to melt and coat the veggies. Stir in the flour.
- Add the broth, a little at a time, stirring as you go.
- Add half the corn to the soup, and using a food processor or blender (I used my immersion blender in a tall jar,) roughly pureé the rest of the corn. Add it to the soup.
- Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to low, simmering for a few minutes.
- Before serving stir in the half and half, adding more salt or pepper to taste.
- Top with crisped bacon and cheese.
Notes
*Make sure you scrape the cob with the back of a knife before tossing them to get all the corn "milk" and juices.
Major YAY to summer soup!! Although Remy hasn’t quite mastered the art of soup eating yet so it’s always a little bit contentious between Mike and I as to whether it’s worth the mess. Hey, the girl has to learn sometime!
With Fiona I kinda aim for it to be more veggies less broth and give her bread for dipping :)