Courgette cream soup with cheese

Ingredients

• 2 small courgettes or a piece from a larger one
• 2 potatoes
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 100ml double cream or a mug of whole milk
• 100g Dzintars processed cheese or grated hard cheese
• 1 bay leaf and/or a few thyme sprigs, optional
• 1 dried mace (or a pinch of ground mace or grated nutmeg)
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• pinch of ground chilli
• butter for frying
• 1 lemon

To serve

• seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin or a mixed seed blend)
• wheat bread
• medium-hard cheese for the toast

Method

1. If using courgettes with a firm skin, peel and remove the seeds. Young courgettes can be used with skin and seeds intact.
2. Peel the onion and garlic. Slice the onion into rings and crush the garlic cloves. Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan and gently fry the onion and garlic until golden and fragrant.
4. Add the potatoes, courgettes, bay leaf and thyme, seasoning with black pepper and the mace (if using grated nutmeg, add it at the end). Pour in enough water to just cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Remove the bay leaf, thyme and mace.
5. Stir in the processed cheese and cream or milk, then blend until smooth. If the soup is too thick, thin with a little water. Season with salt, bring to a gentle boil and taste.
6. Add a little lemon juice to taste.
7. Serve in bowls, sprinkled with seeds and alongside toasted cheese bread.