Charred then Chilled Zucchini Soup

My annual cold soup, which this time requires a little application of fire

Summer isn’t summer without some cold soup, at least to me, and here is what I’ve been enjoying lately.

What characterizes it is the flavor imparted by cooking the bejeezus out of a few poor zucchini. They get blackened all over beneath the broiler (if I had a grill, I’d do it outside, over high, indirect heat, rotating them periodically), with the flesh turning into smoky, semi-stringy mush. It smells alarmingly good — faintly of toasting almonds? There’s the admittedly tedious task of removing that blackened skin, but this takes just a few minutes and then is over.

The rest happens quickly in a blender. And once the soup has been fully chilled, I like to top servings with a few spoonfuls of dressed chickpeas and tomatoes, a similar treatment to this eggplant soup from about a year ago, when my cold soup hankering last set in.

Greek yogurt provides some body, as do the chickpeas on top, but overall this soup is nice and light, a perfect complement to any menu celebrating all the other juicy, optimally flavorful produce of the season.

Recipe Video