My mother has always made me minestrone- not the Progresso stuff with bloated, over-cooked noodles and beans.  She makes a fresh soup from what she has in the garden.  Nonetheless,  as a kid, I never wanted to eat it.  Now that my taste buds are more mature, I love it and have come up with variations of my own.  My favorite doesn’t have the pasta or beans- just like Mamma’s.  The heart and soul of any great soup is vegetables, broth and good fat.  It is the tail end of zucchini, basil and tomato season in VA/MD/PA.  I will be sad to say goodbye to my favorite soup.  Below is a visual recipe of what we will be bringing to Farmers Markets this weekend (in addition to our creamy cucumber soup).  The secret is letting the onions sweat to a golden color at first before adding the tomatoes.  Let that cook a little, and then add the zucchini.  A little basil at first, and then more to garnish at the end.  Don’t forget to blend it smooth and sprinkle with parmesan.  Buon Appetito!

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