Pesto parmesan zucchini soup with sausage "croutons"

The best damn zucchini soup I've ever had

Hello! Welcome back! Skip all the rambling and scroll right to the bottom of this post for a printer-friendly PDF of the recipe only.

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Does anyone else feel like puréed soups can be a little underwhelming? A little repetitive. A little... meh. Chilis are great and chowders are fine and who doesn't love chicken noodle, but where's the oomph when it all gets blended up into one homogenous consistency? Where’s the excitement? Where's the oh my God this is so good? 

I mean, you go to most restaurants and these soups are considered an appetizer — a little something to amuse the bouche before the main event. But at home they are the headliners, and at this time of year they become quite popular for obvious reasons (easy, comforting, warming, and, yes, delicious, if not a little lackluster). Which is why I think puréed soups can do with a little zhuzhing. 

Tell me more

Today's recipe is definitely not short on the zhuzh. In fact, it’s the best damn puréed soup I’ve ever had. It's a creamy zucchini soup but with quite a bit of pizzazz and tons and tons of flavor throughout.

It’s got parmesan. It’s got pesto. It’s got sausage “croutons” which are really just crumbles that are crisped up and sprinkled on top when serving. It’s got rizz as the young people say (cue me laughing at myself as I type) and answers the age-old question of what the f*!k should I do with all this zucchini? in a way that doesn't feel meh, but instead marvelous. Novel. Main event-worthy.

Before we start

• This recipe starts with Italian sausage — the kind that can be removed from its casing and crumbled up — which gets cooked to an almost-crisp and serves two purposes. The first is that it will be used as a garnish at the end. I'm calling them sausage croutons. These crouts will make the soup heartier and more satisfying in a way that an only-veggies purée could never. The second purpose of the sausages is that by cooking them first, all that glorious, delicious sausage grease will be used to flavor the rest of the ingredients and therefore the soup, making it all the more tasty. Win, win, win. 

• Although I *love* the addition of sausage here, I'm telling you that the soup in and of itself is the best zucchini soup I've ever had. So if you prefer something less meaty and and more veggie, omit the sausage and just start your sautéeing with a couple tablespoons more olive oil. 

• I'm using bone broth here because I am not immune to the Instagram wellness girlies who tell me that protein is going to make me feel amazing. But also, it's nice to add some more nutrients (like collagen!) to a bowl of blended-up veggies, ya know? If you only have or just prefer regular ol' broth/stock, that's more than fine to use here. Chicken, beef, veggie, whatever floats your boat. 

• A wooden spoon is a must here for scraping up all the sausage and allium bits from the bottom of the pan as you cook. That's where all the flavor is!

• I love to serve soups with some good bread and butter on the side for scraping up whatever's left in my bowl (so elegant and sophisticated of me, I know). Garlic bread fits the bill here, too, if you want something a tad more fancy. (Is garlic bread fancy? It feels fancy to me.) I also love a good soup and salad combo, so a salad (however fussy or simple you want it to be) would be perf on the side. 

The recipe

Serves: 4

Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients: