Soup's On, Pass It On!

A major cold front has blanketed much of the south with snow and ice {did you know that 49 of the 50 states have seen snowfall, Florida being the odd man out?}. Although there is no snow or ice in sight here, it is cold and miserable {with temps dropping into the 20s this week}. This calls for some hot and hearty Zucchini Soup. This is one of my favorite cold-weather, go-to recipes. Although, I have no idea where the original recipe came from, I just know that my mom made it and she got it from her mom. I did a quick interwebs search and found nothing like it {mostly saw soups using pureed zucchini instead}, so you are seeing here and only here folks. This is one of those treasured, secret {yeah, right} family recipes that started with my grandmother, Nellie Elisha Wiggins Hussey {far left} and was passed to my mom, Yenna Hussey Colvin {second left} and to me, Shannon Leslie Colvin Grooters {third left} and will be passed to my daughter, Paige Katherine Grooters {far right}!


Zucchini Soup

1 lb. polska kielbasa, cut in half lengthwise, then 1/2" slices

1/2 lb. pork chops, cubed

1 medium onion (or half of a large), diced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 (32 oz) boxes of chicken broth

3 medium zucchini

3 medium potatoes (I use Idaho because of their hearty texture)

1 (15 oz) can of corn kernels, drained

2 tsp. Worcestershire

1 tsp. or season salt (more to taste)

1/4 tsp. of coarse ground black pepper

Heat oil in a large stock pot on medium-high and add onions and pork chops and brown meat. Add sausage during last 5 minutes to heat.

Chop potatoes and zucchini into large chunks and drain corn.

When onions begin to sweat, add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling add potatoes, worcestershire and season salt and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil for approx. 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Add zucchini, boil for another 10 minutes. Add corn and pepper (and more season salt, if needed) to taste. Reduce heat to low and boil until potatoes begin to break down and become a creamy consistency (if they haven't already). Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit before serving.

I usually omit the pork chops because I don't like the tough texture, but this time I had some leftover pork tenderloin from the previous night's dinner, so I used that up instead and much preferred the tender meat. You can also sub the pork for chicken or omit the meat all together for a vegetarian version (I would just up the amount of veggies and add more seasoning and a little butter because the sausage gives the soup quite a bit of flavor). Enjoy whatever way you like it!

Bundle up and stay warm and be glad that you don't live with my husband who decided that our thermostat should be on 68 during the day and 65 at night {you see why I will be eating lots of this yummy soup}!