Cold cucumber soup with feta

Summer is here and on hot days we crave cool, refreshing food. There’s hardly anything better than a cold soup to balance out the temperature. This recipe is extremely simple, ideal for beginners and cooked in a flash. This soup is filling, light and delicious.

Cucumber and dill are a perfect combination. Cucumbers are known for their high water content, but they are also rich in vitamins and minerals and have a natural cooling effect. We grow dill on the balcony so that we always have a fresh supply. Its flavour cannot be compared with the dry dill from the spice rack! We love dill as a grateful herb, it is not only easy to care for but also flowers beautifully. You can even eat the flowers – but that’s just a side note.

We start by peeling the cucumbers only halfway through. This way, the beautiful green colour of the peel remains, but not too many hard parts get into the soup. Best of both worlds.

Then we halve the cucumbers lengthways and remove the seeds with a teaspoon.

We cut the cucumbers into pieces and put them in a blender together with crumbled feta cheese, yoghurt, coarsely chopped capers, fresh dill and lemon juice. We recommend roughly chopping the dill too, as it has a tendency to wrap itself around the blade in the blender – we speak from unpleasant experience.

Season with mayonnaise and mustard. A few tablespoons of good olive oil provide further flavour and a fine consistency. The feta is salty and the capers also add a good amount of flavour, so you only need a few turns of pepper from the grinder and no more salt. If necessary, more seasoning can be added at the end.

Blend the ingredients in a stand mixer or, as we did here, with a hand blender until a creamy texture is achieved. We like this cucumber soup to remain a little chunky, but that’s a matter of taste. Of course, you can also blend until the soup is completely creamy and even strain it through a sieve at the end if you want to serve it as a starter for an elegant menu, for example. If the soup is too thick, you can add a little cold water if necessary. Sparkling water also works well to dilute the soup – this gives it a particularly refreshing kick.

Place the cucumber soup in the fridge for at least an hour so that it reaches the right temperature and the flavours combine.

We garnish the chilled soup with sprigs of dill and some very good olive oil.

Enjoy.

And may the taste be with you.

Ingredients (for 4 people):

3 large cucumbers, partially peeled and deseeded

200 g feta cheese, crumbled

250 g yoghurt

3 tbsp capers, drained

3 tbsp olive oil

A handful of fresh dill, roughly chopped

Juice of half a lemon

3 tsp medium-hot mustard

3 tsp mayonnaise

A little black pepper from the mill

Sprigs of dill and a little olive oil to garnish