Courgette soup with Cancoillotte

Cancoillotte, originating in the Haute-Saône area of the Franche-Comté region, has a thick, runny consistency and is served with a spoon. If you are unable to find it, you can use Vache-qui-rit (laughing cow cheese) instead. When in season, courgette flowers – tempura-coated and deep-fried – will enhance this soup considerably.

SERVES 4

25ml light olive oil

½ tsp cumin seeds, or a generous pinch of curry powder

1 onion (100g), very finely chopped

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

500g courgettes, trimmed and cut into fine rounds

500ml boiling water, salted

75g Cancoillotte cheese

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For the courgette flowers

(optional)

4 courgette flowers

Virgin sesame or groundnut oil, for deep-frying

25g cornflour

90g plain flour

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

A good pinch of fleur de sel (flaky sea salt)

About 120ml good-quality sparkling water, chilled

Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat, add the cumin seeds or curry powder and cook for 1–2 minutes if using cumin seeds, 1 minute for curry powder. Add the onion and garlic, lower the heat and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 3–4 minutes.

Add the courgettes and stir to mix with the onion. Increase the heat and cook for 3–4 minutes, without letting the courgettes take on any colour. Slowly pour in the salted boiling water and cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, if serving tempura courgette flowers, gently open up the flowers and, using a small knife, remove the stamen and the sepals (these are found at the base of each flower where it joins to the courgette). Cut off the end of each flower at the base.

Heat the oil for deep-frying in a suitable deep, heavy pan to 170°C. For the tempura batter, mix the cornflour, flour, bicarbonate of soda and sea salt together in a bowl. Add the sparkling water a little at a time, stirring with chopsticks but mixing only lightly; there will be little lumps in the mixture, but this is as it should be. The batter should be just thick enough to lightly coat the chopsticks; it needs to be used immediately.

When the oil is ready, one at a time, pick up the courgette flowers with chopsticks and dip them into the batter to barely cover then drop into the hot oil. Cook for about 1 minute until golden, turning once so that they colour evenly; they are ready as soon as they float to the surface. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

When the soup is ready, remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Transfer to a blender or food processor and blitz for about 3 minutes until velvety smooth. Strain the soup through a fine chinois or sieve, add salt and pepper to taste and serve at once, in soup bowls with the tempura courgette flowers, if serving, on the side.