I love to make soups. As I wrote in my cookbook The Elixir of Life, I look at making soups as a way to transcend the occasional kitchen chaos into an experience of tranquility. Some have said I make the best soups in Sedona, so I guess something’s working out alright.

Here’s a great dinner recipe for your holiday season. I wanted to share the goodness of my Spinach Lemon Pesto soup. I’ve made this soup for many years, and the flavor is somewhat similar to the classic egg-and-lemon Greek soup called avgolemono. It’s a delicious soup, hot or cold.

 

The ingredients are below. Let’s start cooking!

- Cook zucchinis in a chicken stock until they are tender. As that is cooking, sauté the leeks and garlic in extra virgin olive oil until lightly caramelized. Add spinach and cook until just wilted.

- The next step is to puree the fully cooked zucchini in its broth. Then return the puree to the soup pot.

- Scrape the sautéed leeks, garlic and spinach into the pot. Stir in dill (or pesto), chili flakes and lemon juice.

- And voila! A delicious soup that your guests will talk about for days.

For more viscosity in the soup, you can make a roux with butter and flour to thicken up the soup to a perfect bisque-like velvetiness with delicate translucency.

Ingredients for Spinach-Lemon Pesto Soup:

5 medium zucchinis

6 cups chicken stock (plus 2 cups water)

2 leeks, washed and chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ pound spinach leaves

1 tablespoon chopped dill

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Mangia!