Zukey Pepe

Why yes, I am making up words now, thank you for noticing!

This may look homey and unassuming, but it’s guarding a spicy secret. 

 You see, Logan’s friend Andy grows peppers. Hot ones.

 

Photo: Deerfield Township Farmers Market

He sells them under the name Froggybear Gardens, and we’ve had the pleasure of sampling some of his truly delicious and undeniably challenging salsas over the past few months. Not for the faint of tongue, his ghost peppers have that pure, bright heat that induces a momentary euphoria (if you’re into that sort of thing). The other day he offered Logan a new type of contraband: Caribbean Red habaneros.

Caribbean Dread, more like!

I was warned they were pretty hot, both verbally and by eye-watering aroma that wafted out when I opened the bag. I figured one would be good – seeds excluded – for this first experiment. Boy was I right.

So this evening I did some Internet research on our precocious friend the Caribbean Red. Turns out it’s perhaps the second hottest chili pepper on EARTH, registering at 445,000 on the Scoville scale. For reference, that’s two times hotter than a normal orange lame-o habanero and a whole 80 times more ferocious than a why-don’t-you-just-drink-a-bowl-of-cream jalapeño. It’s got a whole body heat. I think I just stopped feeling it about 15 seconds ago. Remember that euphoria I mentioned? As Logan put it a few hours after lunch: “Also, my body feels great. So good.”

 

According to Wikipedia, acini di pepe means “small parts of pepper.” I must say I’m glad I replaced the seeds of the Caribbean Red with this darling pasta confetti. For me at least, pasta is the most comforting of all possible foods, and I just found out that holds true when your mouth/brain/arteries/toes are straight up smoldering. Good to know!

The acini di pepe combined with the julienne zucchini give this soup a lot of playful texture, and something to focus your energy on while you’re breathing through the pain. You basically feel like you're eating two kinds of pasta at once, a.k.a. how I'd like to die.

A julienne peeler makes quick work of this task.

 I might be focusing too much on the heat, here. While the pepper is what made this a standout for me, you could make this soup without the chili altogether and it would be more standard “Italian” (read: probably more like American) tasting. Which is not a bad thing at all in my book. It’s utilitarian, crowd-pleasing, filling comfort food – and it’s mostly made of pantry ingredients I tend to have on-hand. Grab a few zucchini, and you’re good to go.

It’s also quick as all get-out. I walked home from work, made this soup start-to-finish, ate, and got back to work within an hour.

Okay, hour and five minutes.Still impressive, right?

Now that my mouth has calmed down, I’m ready for seconds. 

Spicy Zucchini and Acini di Pepe Soup

Serves 4

GET THIS STUFF:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 Caribbean red habanero, stem and seeds discarded, minced (also, either don’t touch the pepper with your skin, or wash up really, reallyreallyreally well)

3 cups vegetable broth

14.5 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes

1/2 cup acini di pepe

2 small zucchini, sliced down to the seeds using a julienne peeler (or julienne by hand)

1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

Shaved Parmesan

DO THIS WITH IT:

Heat oil in your soup pot over medium heat, and add onion. Cook for 3 minutes, then stir in garlic, Italian seasoning and habanero and cook for one more minute.

Add vegetable broth and tomato juice from can of tomatoes. Add in whole peeled tomatoes, pulling them apart coarsely with your fingers as you add. Bring up to a boil then reduce heat to steady simmer.

Add acini di pepe and simmer for 9 minutes. Add julienne zucchini and simmer one more minute. Stir in most of your parsley, reserving a bit to sprinkle on top of each bowl. Serve topped with shaved Parmesan and reserved parsley.