This recipe was inspired by a recent trip to a local garden centre. I was having lunch there, and they were serving this lovely bright and fresh courgette, butter bean and lemon soup. I wanted to be able to have it again, so I came up with this. It’s an ideal soup for spring or summer, it’s fresh and creamy, without being heavy, and goes perfectly with slices of crusty bread. I made the butter beans, but you can opt to use a tin of shop bought butter beans if preferred
Yield: Six large servings Cook time: 40 minutes
You’ll need:
- One tablespoon of oil
- One brown onion, finely diced
- One stick of celery, finely diced
- Three courgettes, finely chopped
- Three cloves of garlic, minced
- 300g cooked butter beans, before cooking the dried beans weigh 125g
- One litre of hot stock, I used one third chicken-free chicken stock, and two thirds vegetable stock
- 200ml dairy-free plant milk
- Two tablespoons of dairy-free plain, unsweetened yoghurt
- The juice and zest of one lemon
- Two tablespoons of fresh parsley
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Method:
- Start by heating the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Once it’s warmed up, add in the onion and celery, and cook for five minutes
- Next, add in the courgette and give them five minutes to cook. It may look like a lot, but they will cook down
- Now add the garlic and stir it through the rest of the vegetables. Give everything another five minutes to cook
- Then add the stock, lemon juice and lemon zest and pop a lid on the saucepan. Give the soup ten minutes to simmer
- Next, add the beans, milk and yoghurt, and stir them through the soup. Allow the soup to carry on cooking for another ten minutes
- Finally add the parsley, continue cooking the soup for a final five minutes, then it’s ready to serve
I served my soup topped with a little more lemon zest and fresh parsley. Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge, it should keep for three or four days
I prefer to make my own butter beans, rather than tinned butter beans. They seem to have more of a creamy texture and plump up more when you make them using dried beans. If you’d like to make your own too, here’s how I make them
Bethany's Vegan Kitchen 