This is how I like to define a soup: smooth, comforting and hot steam coming off the top. Take a spoonful, blow a couple of times, slurp a little and slurp it all.. aaaahhhh! and repeat.
Then, I learned about cold soup. No kidding.. I really didn’t know.
In India, no matter how high the temperature shoots in summer and how humid it gets, we still like to eat hot sandwiches and hot lentil soups with equally hot rice/roti . Then, we cool ourselves off with some nimbu pani (lemon juice) or some chilled ice-cream.
The idea of having a cold soup didn’t sound that appetizing to me, but after gawking and spotting at so many gazpacho and summer soups, I got pretty inspired. It looked colorful, refreshing and absolutely summer-y. So I thought that if I didn’t try it now, it will just add up in my bucket list for next year!
If you had visited my blog before or saw the recipe list, you will figure out that I love trying new dishes. So, this was yet another interesting attempt I made, hoping that I could change my old school definition of soup.
As per wiki, Gazpacho is a cold Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup, originating in the southern region of Andalusia. I did not make a gazpacho but something similar to that. Maybe, my next attempt on cold soup would be a gazpacho.
This is a simple soup with zucchini, avocado and few other vegetables which I cooked partially and then blended it to give a creamy texture. To go with the soup, nothing seemed more interesting than a crispy puff pastry stick, mixed with some sharp asiago cheese and some chilly flakes to add the heat.
When I served it to Arvind, he took a couple of spoons and then looked at me and kept staring for a while. Yeah! that was clear enough.. he didn’t enjoy it as much as I did. He finished the crispy sticks but the soup, that was left for me..
You could use some other vegetables if you wish, I however restricted mainly to zucchini, some peas and avocado.
Zucchini & Avocado Cold Soup with Crispy Sticks
Ingredients
For the soup
- For the crispy sticks
- 2 zucchinis, roughly chopped
- 2 avocados - 1 avocado chopped and 1 avocado pureed
- 2 celery sticks, chopped finely
- 1 medium onion, chopped finely
- 1 cup peas
- 2 cup chicken stock
- 1 tbs grated ginger
- salt
- pepper
- oil
For the crispy sticks
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 1/2 cup grated asiago cheese
- 2 tbs chilly flakes
- 1 egg
Instructions
- In a pan, heat two tbs oil and saute the ginger and onion until they are cooked through.
- Add celery, zucchini and keep cooking for another 10 minutes.
- Then, add the chicken stock and season with salt and pepper.
- Once everything is cooked through, remove it from the pan and blend it to a smooth mixture.
- Transfer it to a bowl and add peas, pureed avocado and the chopped avocado.
- Let it cool down completely.
- To make the crispy sticks, unfold pastry sheets on a lightly floured board.
- Beat the egg with few drops of water to make a egg wash.
- Use a pastry brush and brush the egg wash on the pastry sheet
- Sprinkle cheese and chilly flakes over the surface and pat it down to make sure it sticks to the sheets.
- Slice the pastry into thin sticks.
- Very gently, either twist it or swirl it.
- Transfer it to a baking pan and bake it at 400 F for about 15 minutes or until they are golden brown in color.
- Sprinkle some lemon juice on the soup and serve it cold with the crispy spicy sticks or swirls.
Comments are closed.
Christine
July 29, 2011 at 8:28 PMLove soup. Your soup looks great. Thanks for sharing.
Mother's Secret Home Recipes
July 29, 2011 at 8:54 PMCrispy stick lookS awesome…
Life is Full
July 29, 2011 at 8:57 PMYour husband’s reaction is funny, a case of looks speaking louder than words! Your soup looks great but your pastry sticks have my heart!
[email protected]
July 29, 2011 at 9:02 PMYou’ve inspired me me to give cold soup a shot. Like you, soup to me is something warm and comforting and in Egypt, we eat very hot food all year round. I also remember visiting my grandma in India and being served up all this delicious steaming stuff right in the middle of summer. We’d then go and pick mangoes from our tree and make a hole on top. Squeeze, squeeze then suck from the top to get fresh mango juice! Hehe.
It’s nice to know that there’s someone out there who also thought the same. Thanks for inspiring me to try making cold soup as well. x.
Tadka Pasta
July 29, 2011 at 9:29 PMInteresting soup! I bet my hubby would have a similar reaction. The bread-sticks are so lovely, especially the spiral ones.
Stephanie
July 29, 2011 at 9:36 PMoooh this soup looks wonderfully refreshing! great way to use avocado (and i LOVE avocado!) yummm!
Ann
July 29, 2011 at 10:19 PMThe soup sounds delicious! My husband would have the same reaction. Your photos are simply stunning!
Jeno @ Week Nite Meals
July 29, 2011 at 11:17 PMLoved your husband’s reaction! I can imagine my hubby and little girl doing the same thing if I cook something as adventurous as cold soup!
Sadhana
July 30, 2011 at 12:37 AMBoth the soup and the sticks look absolutely divine. Love your photographs.
chinmayie @ love food eat
July 30, 2011 at 1:43 AMLooks interesting! I am not big on cold soups either but this one sounds nice 🙂
Maris (In Good Taste)
July 30, 2011 at 2:30 AMLove both of these I am going to definitely make the crispy sticks today! I may even just roll them in Parmesan cheese since I know I have that on hand
Joanne
July 30, 2011 at 2:44 AMAnything with avocado gets my attention and this sounds great! I love that it uses up some zucchini! Gorgeous photos.
Tanvi
July 30, 2011 at 4:09 AMThis looks wonderful! I love cold soups in the summertime. They are so refreshing. I’ve always wondered why we didn’t have more of them in India! I recently w
Tanvi
July 30, 2011 at 4:11 AMThis looks delicious! I love cold soups in the summertime, they are so refreshing. I’ve always wondered why we didn’t do cold soups in India! It seems perfect for the hot summers. Love the avocado!
[email protected]
July 30, 2011 at 5:49 AMAwesome soup with great clicks! Simply mouthwatering.
Anita Menon
July 30, 2011 at 9:05 AMCold soup – even I have my own reservations. I want to imagine yours steaming hot and then I am game:-)
The photos are really fantastic..
The sticks look wonderful!!
Kimberley
July 30, 2011 at 10:11 AMSo perfect for summer!
Sandra's Easy Cooking
July 30, 2011 at 10:38 AMKankana, girl this looks amazing, and so very delicious! What a great stick, just perfect for this soup! AMAZING photos!!!
Reem
July 30, 2011 at 2:15 PMKankana, I really enjoyed reading this post, u reminded me of how we use to enjoy Hot & Sour soup in summers in India….., I can relate to every word you say girl :-). Well this soup looks really good and sticks are the bonus. I’m sure my hubby will react in same manner.
Thanks for sharing girl.
Natalie
July 30, 2011 at 2:44 PMI love your green gazpacho and I’m sure the avocado adds a lovely creaminess to it. Your pictures are beautiful too!
Krithi
July 30, 2011 at 4:11 PMLove the idea of spicy soup sticks… lovely celery shots too..
German Mama
July 30, 2011 at 8:29 PMI love to eat cold, refreshing soups in the summer. This looks great and the bread sticks are cute.
Manu
July 30, 2011 at 11:17 PMThis is a great looking cold soup! And those cheese sticks look soooo good and crispy! I wish I could have a couple to munch on right now! Amazinf pictures my friend, I love them!
lisaiscooking
July 31, 2011 at 11:42 AMThis looks like the perfect soup for summer, and the cool, green color is lovely. The crunchy cheese stick on looks delicious with it!
nisha
July 31, 2011 at 12:21 PMi have kept all the soups i want to try for those horrid winter nights 🙁
although i actually hate avocado, other than for guacamole, i think i like the whole idea of adding it in soup..and bread sticks..yummo 🙂
[email protected]
July 31, 2011 at 3:46 PMWhat a beautiful soup!!! The only other cold vegetable soup I’ve had is gazpacho. So this looks delicious and wonderful for these hot summer days! And I’d better make the soup first…because I think those crispy sticks would be gone before I finished! : )
Treat and Trick
July 31, 2011 at 11:46 PMGreat combo and looks fabulous! Love that twisted stick as well…
baobabs
August 1, 2011 at 1:27 AMyum! stunning photography and healthy home made soup!
Marina
August 1, 2011 at 1:49 AMWoow, wonderful post! I love the pictures.. So hungry now 🙂
sukanya
August 1, 2011 at 5:28 AMI love cold soups, but with avocado am not sure bcoz personally am not a fan of avocado, but your tempting pics makes me reconsider the avocado…
and the shot with celery stalk, i liked it the best…
regarding your comment in hilsa…am too missing it, bcoz here in US where I will get it? so started an event to enjoy it virtually at least !!
Junia @ Mis Pensamientos
August 1, 2011 at 6:20 AMthe avocado, zucchini, cucumber gazpacho sounds FANTASTIC. 😀 hehehe try the frozen grapes when u get a chance – u might be nicely surprised! 😀
Kitchen Belleicious
August 1, 2011 at 6:43 AMLook at the cute little crispy sticks and I can just smell the refreshing flavors of the zucchini and avocado. What a wonderful combo and perfect for summer! Love this cold soup!
briarrose
August 1, 2011 at 6:53 AMLove this meal. The sticks are the perfect side to this soup.
Tina (PinayInTexas)
August 1, 2011 at 8:03 AMI’m not a fan of cold soup, but with avocado in it, I would never say no!
Tes
August 1, 2011 at 8:25 AMI don’t really like cold soup but this does look so fresh and delicious 🙂 I will definitely try this out sometime 🙂
Liren
August 1, 2011 at 8:51 AMI’ve always wondered the same thing about food in the Philippines. It can be as hot and as humid as a sauna, yet the soups that my family always cooked were steaming hot – to me the first time I tried gazpacho, it was such a novelty. I would love to try yours, it promises to be full of wonderful flavor. Lovely photos, too.
rebecca
August 1, 2011 at 9:14 AMmy hubby may look at me the same way looks awesome to me though
sarah
August 1, 2011 at 9:24 AMI’m just beginning to get in to cold soups and this one looks like perfect way to ease myself in- loving the avocado!!
Sissi
August 1, 2011 at 10:56 AMYour soup looks so refreshing and perfect for hot days! Apart from gazpacho I have never had cold soups (well, actually I had fruit soups with… pasta, but I prefer to forget this awful experience). Gazpacho is fantastic and your green version sounds at least equally good!
aipi
August 1, 2011 at 11:33 AMThis is something my hubs is going to love as he is crazy about anything avocado:D I love those cheese sticks but I normally make them with a mix of cheddar n Parmesan, with lots of cayenne pepper 😉
US Masala
Nash at Plateful
August 1, 2011 at 12:04 PMCold soup huh? Sounds interesting though I’ve personally never tried one. Hey, I really loved your pitch black background shots. Did you shoot in natural light?
Kankana
August 1, 2011 at 12:30 PMyeah always in natural light. I don’t have studio lights .. yet! 🙂
torviewtoronto
August 1, 2011 at 12:24 PMdelicious looking soup puff pastry sticks would be wonderful with this
Priyanka
August 1, 2011 at 12:44 PMTotally agree with u that when ever I hear soup….i imagine something hot and steamy…
Loved Jis’ reaction 🙂
Wokintime
August 1, 2011 at 3:24 PMThe soup sounds divine, although my husband would probably gravitate toward the breadsticks as well! Something about my husband and cold veggies just doesn’t mix.
I love the idea of gazpacho with different veggies though! I will definitely add this one to my to do list!
-Jamie
Bo W
August 1, 2011 at 5:05 PMIt’s very hot here too…This soup would really hit the spot!
sally
August 1, 2011 at 6:19 PMLove your take on gazpacho! The cheese sticks look yummy too!
Allie
August 1, 2011 at 6:38 PMMmmm cold soup sounds AMAZING right now in this heat wave!
Roxana GreenGirl
August 1, 2011 at 8:45 PMi’ve discovered cold soup couple of years ago while traveling both to Spain and Mexico. Back home, in Romania, no matter how hot it was outside we’d still take a spoonful, blow a couple of times and slurp.
Love the zucchini – avocado pairing, so delicious.
Thanks for sharing Kankana
Silvia
August 2, 2011 at 4:59 AMDelicious recipe and some beautiful pictures.
Besos.
BBQ Grail
August 2, 2011 at 7:48 AMThanks for the great blog post! I featured it in The BBQ Grail’s 10 Posts Worth A Look for this week. http://wp.me/pwBnV-1Z0
Cheryl and Adam @ pictureperfectmeals.com
August 2, 2011 at 8:06 AMCold soups are wonderful in the summer. We keep a pitcher of gazpacho in the fridge all summer long! This looks really good , too. Love the avocado and especially the crispy sticks. Great photos, too!
Juliana
August 2, 2011 at 11:47 AMKankana, your cold soup looks delicious, love the combination of of zucchini and avocado…and perfect paired with the crispy sticks 🙂
Hope you are having a fantastic week!
sonia
August 2, 2011 at 3:50 PMHey Kankana, The soup is looking absolutely delightful. Loved the new combo of ingredients and the recipe is so nicely made and presented. Saving this recipe of urs and wud love to give ur version a try on the coming weekend. Have a great day….Love n Regards, Sonia !!!
peachkins
August 3, 2011 at 1:56 AMI haven’t really tried avocado in savory dishes except for guacamole.. this looks fantastic!
jillian m. {coffee, light and sweet}
August 3, 2011 at 4:53 AMYum! I’m actually going to try a chilled avocado soup this week that is slightly similar to this one. Did you enjoy the soup a lot? Would you have done anything differently? I could surely use some tips if you have any!
Kankana
August 3, 2011 at 1:57 PMI really liked it .. it was smooth and very light. But you could add some cheese in the soup I guess 🙂
nancy at good food matters
August 3, 2011 at 7:17 AMI’d have to make this with vegetable broth—but other than that change, I think that this looks like a splendid summer soup. The avocado makes it for me!
Eftychia
August 3, 2011 at 1:14 PMAlthoug summer, I would love to eat this soup. It really sounds delicious!
Divya
August 3, 2011 at 2:32 PMI love cold soups – this recipe is being bookmarked for sure! The cheesy sticks look great too!
Jessica
August 3, 2011 at 3:55 PMYou take such gorgeous photos! This is definitely my kind of dish. I love how beautiful it is and how perfectly the crispy sticks pair with your cold soup. Great recipe!
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com
August 4, 2011 at 10:58 AMI can’t bring myself drinking chilled soups and sandwiches. But this soup looks delish. A must try in my book 🙂
aarthi
August 4, 2011 at 10:20 PMHai Dear
This looks yummy….you have a lovely blog… You have so many wonderful recipes..I have bookmarked you blog and some recipe from that to try..Please check out my blog.I am having a Giveaway in my blog..Please check it out and partcipate in that..
http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/2011/07/homemade-bounty-chocolate-and-giveaway.html
Aarthi
Eating Deliciously
August 5, 2011 at 11:33 AMThe soup and crispy sticks sound excellent. Your photos are simply amazing!
Soma
August 5, 2011 at 12:44 PMI need to have this now.. in this heat, the soup wld be a blessing. and did I tell you I love avocados? The ginger flavor sounds really nice and refreshing.
Grishma
August 6, 2011 at 11:22 AMYummoo!! Bookmarked it! Also gorgeous pics girlie, Loved the one with crispy sticks and also with all vegetable.
Kelly
August 6, 2011 at 4:55 PMI love chilled soups in the summertime and this combination of ingredients is heavenly not to mention beautiful.
Suzi
August 11, 2011 at 10:32 AMI live in Florida where we have plenty of avocados and zucchini, never thought of using avocados in a soup. It looks delish and the crispy sticks too. I love your blog. Thank!
irmghard
January 17, 2012 at 10:36 AMThis is spectacular, Kankana. Thanks for sharing.
Erin Hess
August 13, 2012 at 12:52 PMKankana, Do you know how many cups the two zucchini that you suggest yields? I am thinking of making this for a party of eight and am trying to figure out how many zucchini to use. Thanks! This looks fabulous, I can’t wait to try it out.
Kankana
August 13, 2012 at 1:01 PMHi Erin, I made this long back! As far as I remember it yield about 3 and half cups. I hope this helps! Hope you like it 🙂