Sweet Corn + Zucchini Chowder

Welcome back to QCK!

It’s Saturday, it’s supposed to be rainy here, and I’m totally prepared for a day of staying in and watching movies. I’ll probably bake something and I’ll definetly dig into some of this chowder. I made a big batch a few weeks ago and threw it in the freezer as a way to hold on to all the goodness of summer produce for a few extra weeks. I might make one more before it gets cold because A) it’s delicious and B) it’s a reminder of warm, sunny days and we all need that to get through winter.

This is such a great soup. It’s smooth and creamy with soft potatoes, zucchini, and a little crunch from the sweet corn. The whole cooking process starts with crisping some bacon in butter and then adding onion, garlic and basil, which is the star of the show here. The basil adds that fresh, bright, summery flavor that I’m really trying to hold onto throughout winter. A little bit white cheddar and torn basil finishes the dish.

Note: As I always say, make sure you’re salting the soup at every step. You want the salt to cook with the dish so you end up with a well seasoned soup. If you add all your salt at the end, you’ll end up with a very salty soup.

Substitutions and Add Ons

• Butter can be substituted with coconut oil.
• Flour just use your favorite gluten free blend if needed. I suggest Cup4Cup.
• Heavy Cream can be susbtituted for unsweetened oatmilk or coconut milk.
• Chicken Stock can be substituted for vegetable stock.
• Prosciutto can be substituted for bacon.
• You can also add tomato, bell pepper, jalapeño, poblano.

Recipe

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 1 hr

Category: Soup

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 3 Medium Red Potatoes, diced and rinsed
• 4 C (1 quart) Chicken Stock
• 2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, split
• 4 Ears Sweet Corn, cut off the cob
• 1 Medium Zucchini diced
• 2 Slices of Prosciutto, sliced
• 2-3 Large Basil Leaves, chopped
• 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Medium Yellow Onion, diced
• 3 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 C Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 C Shredded Cheese, I use white cheddar
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Before you begin, remember to salt the soup lightly at every step of cooking, see note above.
2. In a medium pot over high heat, boil potatoes in chicken stock until soft.
3. In a large pot over medium-high heat, melt 1 Tbsp of butter and add zucchini and sweet corn. Cook until zucchini is soft and sweet corn is bright yellow.
4. Remove the corn and zucchini and set aside.
5. In the same pan, melt 1 Tbsp of butter and add prosciutto.
6. When the prosciutto begins to crisp, add basil, garlic and onion. Sauté until the onion is translucent and the basil and garlic are aromatic.
7. Begin making the roux by gradually whisk in flour until a smooth paste forms.
8. Once a paste forms, gradually whisk in heavy cream. Continue whisking until all the cream is incorporated and there are no lumps.
9. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens slightly., 3-5 minutes.
10. Use a ladel to add the chicken stock and potatoes to the pot, being sure to whisk the stock into the roux between each ladel so it’s completely incoorporated.
11. Add the zucchini and corn back into the pot bring the soup to a simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.
12. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheese until fully melted and combined.
13. Season to taste and serve.
14. Leftovers can be refrigerated up to 4 days and frozen up to 1 month.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this recipe! If you tried it out let me know in the comments. For more recipes check out my homepage and follow along on Instagram. Don’t forget to like, follow, comment and share. Thanks for reading! 

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