Mexican pumpkin flower soup

Squash flowers such as pumpkin and courgette are found in many recipes across South America. They are delicious, particularly when lightly cooked. In Spain, France, and Italy they crop up in all sorts of recipes

3½ cups good-quality chicken stock

a little olive oil

2 fresh green jalapeño or serrano chilies, seeded and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

2 ripe tomatoes

8oz (225g) pumpkin flowers or zucchini flowers

juice of 2 limes

salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a saucepan. Meanwhile, heat a large heavy frying pan and add a little olive oil. Reserve some of the chilies to garnish the soup, and cook the remainder in the hot oil with the garlic for 1–2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until pale golden brown.
• Cut the tomatoes in half, and grate the open side of each half on a large grater. (This is a quick method of getting the pulp from the tomatoes; the skin stays in your hand and can then be discarded.) Add the tomato to the pan with the onion. Discard the stems from the pumpkin flowers and coarsely chop the flowers, reserving 6 whole flowers for garnish. When the tomato has cooked down slightly, add the chopped pumpkin flowers to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes until the flowers are barely wilted. Pour in the hot chicken stock, and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• While the soup is simmering, heat a small frying pan and add a little olive oil. Cook the reserved whole pumpkin flowers until they are wilted and parts are golden brown. Season with salt and pepper, and add the reserved green chilies. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Using a blender or food processor and working in batches as needed, process the soup until smooth; return it to the pan. Add the lime juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning—there should be a balance between the sweet onion, chicken stock, spicy green chilies, and salt. The lime juice wakes up the flavors and provides a delicious sour edge to this simple soup. To serve, pour into bowls and garnish each with a whole pumpkin flower and some green chilies.

Serves 6