Sweet Corn Soup with Vanilla Bean and Pancetta

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Serita came back from Bali a couple of weeks ago and brought home fresh–and very fragrant–vanilla beans. I was able to get my hands on a few of them. I wouldn’t have thought about corn soup with vanilla if I didn’t have them, but once I did, I only imagined a soup that was velvety and smooth. I followed an existing vegetable soup recipe as my guide, but I added heavy cream to complement the milk that came from puréeing the corn kernels. To give it some extra body, I added mashed boiled potatoes. The corn was naturally sweet, so adding pancetta just rounded off the taste. It was the perfect balance of salty and sweet; a great appetizer for another Supper with Strangers.

Ingredients:
5 fresh corns on the cob, husk and silk peeled off
1 vanilla bean, scraped
2 potatoes, peeled, boiled, mashed
half a pint of heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar
a chunk of pancetta, chopped, fried until toasted
fresh nutmeg
salt

1. Steam corn for about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, slice off kernels into a sauce pot. Cook kernels with vanilla and mashed potatoes in low heat until combined. Mix in salt and sugar and stir well.
2. Transfer to a food processor and purée. Add a little heavy cream in batches until desired smooth consistency is reached. Feel free to add a little water if it’s too thick.
3. To serve, spoon corn soup in a bowl, sprinkle pancetta and grated nutmeg on top.

Related post/s:
Join us at Supper with Strangers once a month
July Supper with Strangers photos on Flickr
Asparagus soup recipe

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Garlic Scape Pesto

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This season’s prettiest produce is definitely the garlic scape. I’ve received eight stalks so far from my farm share this season. If it weren’t for the garlicky smell, I don’t think its identity would have been obvious to me.

Garlic scapes are the flower stalks that shoot up from the garlic bulb. They curl up when they’re long, but they’re usually cut off for the garlic bulbs to grow bigger. I’ve used them like minced garlic cloves and I’ve also sliced them thinly to add to breakfast omelets. Pesto, though, is the way to go if you want to use them before they dry up. After a couple of servings of this garlic scape pesto on toasted bread and on gnnochi, I returned the rest of it to the food processor and added fresh basil leaves to tone down the garlicky flavor.

Ingredients:
8 garlic scapes, chopped
a handful of pine nuts
1 cup Parmiggiano Reggiano, crumbled
lemon juice
olive oil
salt, pepper

1. Pulse garlic scapes, pine nuts and cheese in the food processor until puréed. Slowly drizzle a little bit of olive oil while pulsing. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Store in an air-tight jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Related post/s:
Add basil leaves to this recipe and make a more subtle pesto
Mmm, and then press your own Gruyere sandwiches

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