Courgette Onion Soup

Simple, rich and fresh soup.. What else do you need on a cool day?
(Also known as Zucchini Onion Soup)

Yields: 4 generous servings. Or 8-10 stingy ones.


Ingredients

1. 2 courgettes
2. 2-3 yellow onions (depending on size)
3. 4-5 scallions
4. 4-6 cloves of garlic
5. Any neutral oil or butter (depending on how diet-y you are.)*
6. 500l veggie stock (or a single bullion of any kind in half a litre of boiling water)
7. Creme Fraiche

Seasoning

1. Salt
2. Pepper
3. Chilli(s)**
4. 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
5. 1 tsp Cumin Powder

Instructions

1. Get the vessel/pot that you will use to make the soup ready to go by setting it up with some oil/butter in it already. Heat it up just a bit and set it aside to add the first portion of the ingredients.
2. CHOP CHOP CHOP. It's easier to cook once everything is chopped, minced, diced and ready to go. 
• So start with the garlic and roughly chop it. Since everything is going to be blended at the end there is no real need for perfection- all you need is roughly the same sizes so that everything cooks evenly. Add this garlic in the slightly warmed oil. I like doing this because it makes me feel like I'm not just cooking the garlic but also infusing it in the oil and making the flavour stronger... Then just thinly slice the onions and also add them to the pot. Do the same with the scallions. Leave some of the green part of the scallions to use and garnish.
• Evenly dice the courgette and set aside. Remember, the smaller you chop it, the faster it cooks. 
3. Pyro time. Put your pot that already has the garlic, onions and scallions on a medium low heat and start seasoning with everything mentioned on the list. Mix it all well and put a lid on so that the onions can cook without burning the garlic. You want to do this until the onions turn translucent. This doesn't take too long so keep watch.
4. When the onions seem done, add the courgette in. Stir/toss everything in well to coat the courgette in our onion mixture. Add some of the stock (about 5 tbsp) into the pot and put the lid on to start cooking the courgette. That tiny bit of stock is added so that the courgettes can cook in steam and much faster than in just the oily onion mixture. You can turn the heat up to a medium or even medium high depending on your confidence an patience.
5. When the courgettes seem halfway done (or even more, it's all okay) add the rest of the stock. Stir everything well and stick the lid back on. Altogether, the cooking time with the stock in is about 10 minutes on medium high heat.
6. Upon checking that all the courgette in the pot is tender and well cooked, you can get your hand/stick blender and blitz it all to high heavens. Just as most of it is no longer chunky, add in your creme fraiche and finish up until all smooth and there are no chunks whatsoever. You can but it back on heat for another minute just for the hell of it because that's what I do each time after I blitz my soup. Don't know why, but it feels important. ╮(╯▽╰)╭
7. Et voilà! The hard part's done!

Garnish/Serving Tips & Tricks

• I like lime. Not lemons, but limes. So at the end when I'm done blending my soup, I add in the lime juice of a whole lime. It adds to the freshness of the flavours and a bit of a kick.
• If you want to add some extra something, when your are in the chopping process and you have just added your onions to the pot, you can add a splash of maggi seasoning. It elevates the flavour profile and gives some umami flavour. Do be careful then while adding the salt though.
• There are times when I really like cheese. And not the nice, fancy (or stinky) cheese but the crappy, cheap american cheddar kind. So I'll put my hot-hot soup into a bowl and add a single slice of my cheap american cheese and just let it melt and disappear into my soup. Boy-oh-boy it really adds to the richness. Great on a cold, snowy day. I promise I eat healthy food.
• In general, any soup, goes well if served with some bread. So that's always a good idea. And coriander is one of the best garnishes for almost anything. Including this soup. And the bit of scallions that we kept aside? Finely chop that and throw that on top too. It looks all gourmet now. Kinda.
• Lastly, I love the Aruban hot sauce with this soup...

*I use sunflower oil. You can use any vegetable oil. Or butter. Up to you. YOLO.
**Any that you prefer and how much ever you want. Powder or flakes are okay too. I use Korean chilli flakes since I like the spice. I have also used red and green chillis. Jalapeños are nice too. Habaneros are great if you really want to go for it.