Hard Cheese Gets Bedded with Summer Squash

In my soup repertoire I’ve come to know and love hard cheese as both a base and finisher to a vegetable soup. It’s easy to interchange feature veggie when something fresh comes your way.

INGREDIENTS: You can exchange parmesan cheese for pecorino. Each has a rind that flavors the base soup

• olive oil – 2 TBS
• onion, yellow – 1 large, thin crescent cut [through the poles]
• zucchini – 4 cups, 1/2 inch cubes
• eggplant – 2 cups, peeled, 1/2 inch cubes
• bell pepper – 1 cup, diced [red adds a nice color]
• pecorino – 1 cup [packed], plus a square piece of rind
• herb blend – 1 TBS, I like zatar, [or herbes de Provence, or thyme or sage]
• water – 3-4 cups, enough to barely cover veggies [or stock]
• salt – 1 tsp, to taste
• pepper – 1/2 tsp
• sherry, dry – 2 TBS, [optional, or Marsala or Madeira]

ADD INS: To make this more complex, add in possibilities: fresh mushrooms, cooked beans, cooked diced meat, cooked macaroni, a handful of fresh chopped herbs

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare all the ingredients
2. Sauté the onions, eggplant, and bell pepper until softened, about 4-5 minutes
3. Add the water [or stock] and bring to a simmer with the cheese rind, herbs, salt, and pepper
4. Add the wine [if using] and simmer for 20 minutes until veggies are softened
5. Remove the cheese rind
6. If adding additional add ins, do so now and warm them
7. Off heat add the grated cheese while stirring along with the chopped herbs
8. Adjust the seasoning if needed

Recipe by B. Hettig