I cooked another zucchini item yesterday. It was inspired by Wolfgang Puck’s corn soup that was in the most recent issue of Food & Wine, but I made a few changes to make it lower fat and higher zucchini. I only made a half batch since it was my first time out with it, but I should have made a whole batch because Denny gobbled up almost the whole pot.

Corn soup with bacon and zucchini

5 ears of fresh sweetcorn, shucked and kernels cut from the cobs
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 medium-to-large zucchini or yellow squash, thinly sliced (to be honest, I’m not sure what that is in my garden. The plant label said zucchini but the results look more like squash. I think they’re basically the same thing anyway.)
olive oil

16 oz chicken or vegetable stock
2 strips of bacon, most of the fat cut off, finely chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Take a little more than half of your cut corn and blend it up in a blender until it’s sludgy. Put a little bit (about 1 tsp) of olive oil into a large saucepan. Sauté zucchini over medium-high heat until soft, then add to corn in blender and blend until it’s all sludgy together.

In the same pan, put the onion and the bacon. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and the bacon is cooked. In a small pan, sauté remaining corn in a little olive oil until it’s lightly browned. Add to the bacon and onion mixture. Pour vegetable sludge into bacon/onion/corn mixture. Reduce heat to medium and add stock. You may need to transfer it to a larger vessel now if your pan isn’t big enough. Let it simmer for at least 20 minutes, or until it is hot throughout. Add cream, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper until it tastes good.

Serve with a dollop of jalapeño sour cream and/or garnish with chives.