Roasted Courgette & Basil Soup

Ingredients

• 1 kg courgettes, cut into 2cm rounds
• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 800 ml vegetable stock, hot
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 30g basil, leaves picked
• 30 g parmesan, finely grated
• 1 lemon, juiced
• extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• Natural yoghurt, to serve
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• Natural yoghurt, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan. Toss the courgette rounds with 2 tbsp olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper, and spread across two large baking trays in a single layer — crowd them and they steam instead of roast, and you lose all the sweet caramelised edges. Tuck the unpeeled garlic cloves in among the courgettes so they're sheltered from direct heat; naked cloves scorch and turn bitter.
2. Roast for 25–30 minutes, turning halfway, until the courgettes are deep gold at the edges and smell sweet and nutty. Check the garlic at the halfway turn — you want it soft and pale gold inside the skin, not dark. Burnt garlic turns the whole soup bitter, so pull any cloves that are colouring too fast. Squeeze the soft garlic out of its skins and set aside with the courgettes.
3. Meanwhile, soften the onion in the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat for 6–8 minutes, until translucent, glossy and sweet-smelling — no colour, just collapse.
4. Tip in the roasted courgettes, the squeezed garlic, the cannellini beans and the hot vegetable stock. The stock is the break-down liquid here — it loosens the roasted courgettes into a silky base rather than a paste. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes so the flavours marry.
5. Pull the pot off the heat. Add most of the basil leaves (keep a small handful back for the bowls) and the baby spinach, then blitz with a stick blender until completely smooth and a vivid hedgerow green. Off-heat blitzing keeps the colour bright; boil the basil and it goes army-drab.
6. Stir in the lemon juice — the acid lifts the sweetness of the roasted courgette and pulls the whole soup into focus. Taste, season with salt and plenty of black pepper, then taste again. Adjust now, not at the table. If it feels too thick, loosen with a splash more hot stock until it falls easily off the ladle.
7. Ladle into warm bowls, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, scatter over the reserved basil and the grated parmesan, and serve with crusty sourdough and a spoonful of soured cream or natural yoghurt on the side.