Oma’s Zucchini Soup

The day I received the email with “Oma’s soup” was a very big turning point in my marriage.

You see, Oma’s soup was not just a regular zucchini soup, it was a recipe that was full of nostalgia for my husband. When he was young, his parents and 6 siblings would often travel the 1 hour trip from Monsey to Borough Parkto visit Oma and her husband. Oma would generally prepare a big pot of her special soup for the family, and my husband in particular, would look forward to having a bowl of soup each visit.

I remember calling him and saying, “She sent the recipe.” He was shocked. I think he thought that she would refuse to send it. “Don’t share it with anyone!”, he said. He was serious. It’s funny. We felt that we had won the lottery. We had gotten the secret recipe to “the soup”.

The first time I made it I, unfortunately, had added too much pepper and the soup was unmendable! The second time though was a success. We blissfully ate our soup for dinner, savoring each spoonful.

Everything is way more fun when it’s a secret, but fortunately for you, I stink at secret keeping. First I told a sister in-law, them my mother in-law, and then some guests who insisted on the recipe. Those guests told me that they shared it with their guests and now, dear friends, the secret is no more!

2 things that I would like to note:

1.       The first couple of times I made this recipe I followed it to a “T”.  Then I started substituting some ingredients for health purposes. I do miss the original taste though. I am providing you with the original recipe, and you may do what you wish with it. I substitute oil for margarine and soy milk for coffee creamer…that’s it!

2.       Taking pictures of zucchini soup is hard! I apologize for the bland photography. I actually was not going to post the soup for that reason. However, I figured why should everyone miss out just because of poor photography.

Oma’s Zucchini Soup:

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Yields: 5 bowls

Ingredients:

Soup:

1 large onion, diced

¼ cup margarine

4 medium sized zucchini’s with skin, scrubbed clean, diced

1 carrot, sliced

2 tablespoons Osem chicken soup mix

2 cups boiling water

Salt and white pepper

1 cup coffee whitener

Dumplings (optional):

3 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons water

Instructions:

Soup:

1.       In a large pot, fry the onion in the margarine, until it is soft.

2.       Add the zucchini and the carrot slices, the osem soup mix, salt, pepper, and the boiling water. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are soft.

3.       Stir in coffee whitener

4.       Using an immersion blender or food processor, blend the soup.

 Dumplings:

1.       Gently stir together flour and water. You should have a very liquid doughy mixture. Drop mixture into soup, one teaspoon at a time, while soup is boiling. Allow soup to simmer with dumplings for at least 20-30 minutes.  Dumplings are generally more flavorful by the next day.