Marrow & courgette, pesto quinoa soup recipe

This marrow soup with courgette flowers and pesto quinoa recipe from Nicole Pisani and Kate Adams’ new book Magic Soup reminds us of Spring which we love!

For Nicole, this is a pure taste of home: marrows are plentiful in Malta and marrow soup is revered. Combining the smooth soup with the roasted marrow and pesto quinoa turns this humble vegetable into a treat.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 medium marrows

2tbsp groundnut oil

1L hot vegetable stock

2tbsp crème fraîche

1tbsp miso glaze (or mix 1 tsp white miso paste with 1 tsp soft unsalted butter)

100g cooked quinoa

1tbsp basil pesto

1tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped

Zest of 1 lime, grated

1tbsp salted capers, rinsed, drained and chopped

1tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1tsp unsalted butter

Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pumpkin seeds, to serve

Thyme leaves, to serve

For the courgette flowers

(optional)

300ml vegetable oil

8 courgette flowers

1 egg, beaten

1tbsp cornflour

Top and tail the marrows and chop one of them into cubes. Heat the groundnut oil in a large frying pan, add the cubed marrow and cook gently until golden. Add the hot vegetable stock and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the marrow is soft. Remove from the heat and process the marrow and stock in a blender until smooth. Stir in the crème fraîche, taste and season with salt.

Preheat the oven to 210°C/fan 190°C/410°F/gas mark 7. Slice the second marrow into 4 thick rings. Scoop out the inner flesh and brush each slice with miso glaze. Put the quinoa, pesto, tarragon, lime zest, capers and Parmesan in a bowl, mix well and season with sea salt and pepper.

Place the marrow slices on a baking tray and fill them with the quinoa mixture. Brush with butter and roast for about 20 minutes, or until the top of the marrow can easily be pierced with a fork. Remove the marrow slices and place in individual bowls. Pour the hot soup around the marrow.

For extra credit, serve with deep-fried courgette flowers. Heat the oil to 160°C/320°F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test the oil by carefully dropping in a small cube of bread, which should bubble immediately; if it drops to the bottom, the oil isn’t hot enough. Dip the courgette flowers in the egg and then the cornflour. Gently lower them into the oil with a slotted spoon and fry for about 5 minutes, or until crisp. Carefully remove them from the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Garnish the soup with the flowers, pumpkin seeds and thyme leaves and serve.