Italian Chayote Squash Soup Recipe With Mussels

This Chayote soup recipe is similar to seafood chowder but is gluten- and dairy-free. The creamy texture of the chayote creates a naturally smooth texture, and there is no need to add cream or flour like in a chowder. This soup is served with mussels, and the bitterness of the Broccoli Rabe or edible flowers Begonia balances their sweetness. It is perfect for dinner parties, as it can be served cold or warm.

Chayote squash sounds exotic but is grown locally and widely available in many Mediterranean countries. It is called Chocho in the Caribbean and Coko in Australia and New Zealand and is also known as Mirliton squash, vegetable pear, or mango squash.

It was introduced to Europe after the discovery of America and has adapted well to the local climate. It is very easy to grow, like a squash, although it requires a lot of water. The chayote season runs from October to November.

It has only one large seed in the center, and its pulp is very sticky. It has a mild flavor like zucchini but it has a crunchier and stickier pulp.

That is why when you boil it and blend it, it makes a beautiful foamy soup.

Chayote might look unusual, but you should not be intimidated. It is just a variety of zucchini, and you can cook it the same way.

Other recipes you can make by replacing zucchini with chayotes are: zucchini recipe pasta and ricotta, zucchini mushroom quiche, Ciambotta or Giambotta Italian vegetable stew.

For seafood ideas for the Feast of Seven Fishes, check out this Web Story.

Jump to:

• Chayote and seafood
• Ingredients
• How to buy fresh mussels
• Instructions
• Serving the Chayote soup
• Top tips
• Substitution
• 📋Italian Chayote Squash Soup Recipe With Mussels
• Tips to make this Chayote squash recipe
• Origin of this recipe

Chayote and seafood

Due to the chayote's creamy texture, this recipe does not need carbs to thicken the soup, and it is carb-free and low-calorie.

Although Chayote has a peculiar characteristic, it is tasteless and is, therefore, an excellent base for mild soups like this one.

In this recipe, I blend it with a light fish sauce made with delicate fish fumet and mussel juice.

The bitterness of the edible flowers Begonia or Cime di Rapa balances the chayote's creaminess and the seafood's sweetness adding a depth of flavor.

Ingredients

To make this recipe, you will need to prepare the following ingredients:

1. Fish stock or fumet
2. Mussels and their juices
3. Chayote mousse
4. For decoration: edible flower begonia or broccoli rabe, rapini

Fish stock or fumet

The base of this recipe is a fish stock or a fumet. The fish stock is easier to make, while the fumet requires additional steps. While the fish stock is made by boiling fish bones with vegetables, the fish fumet has more delicate and intense as it is flavored with wine and reduced.

You can find the recipes here; choose which one you want to use based on your time:

• Homemade fish stock
• Fish broth fumet

You can also buy fish stock already made at your fishmonger.

How to buy fresh mussels

Mussels are delicious when fresh, but they can be a dangerous source of seafood poisoning if not chosen correctly.

Buy them only from your trusted fishmonger and ask them to clean them as they are a pain in the neck.

They are often full of barnacles; when you try to clean them, your fingers get sore and bleed.

Personally, I always try to avoid mussels during the hot season, neither buying them or ordering them at restaurants.

The heat makes seafood more susceptible to attracting bacteria.

Fresh mussels should be cooked alive. If they are already dead they are dangerous to eat.

Here is how to check fresh mussels are alive:

• Fresh mussels should be closed and cannot be opened by hand no matter how hard you try
• Discharge any open or broken mussels
• Rinse them under running water one by one and throw away any open or broken mussels
• If they are open, but immediately close when you touch them, try to open them again. If you cannot reopen them, they are OK to eat.

Instructions

How to cook the mussels

In this video, I make 1 lb - 500 gr of mussels as they sell them in such quantity, but you only need a small amount for this recipe.

In this occasion, I used them to make my next soup: seafood chowder.

However, you can freeze the leftover mussel juices and serve the remaining mussels with the main, like this cod and salmon fish pie or the ultimate seafood platter.

The ingredients are:

• 1 lb - 500 gr of fresh mussels
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Fresh mussels are naturally salted, you do not need to add any salt

This is how to proceed:

1. In a large saucepan, stir fry 1 sliced clove of garlic.
2. Put in the mussels and stir fry at medium-high heat covered until they are all open.
3. Stir from time to time
4. Add 1 cup of white wine and let it simmer for 1 minute until it evaporates
5. When they are ready, remove the mussels
6. Keep the water released by the mussels while cooking.

7. Strain the water through a paper cloth and let it rest so that any residual of sand will fall at the bottom.
8. Clean the mussels and put them aside.

Top tips for cooking mussels

• Fresh mussels are naturally salted. You do not need to add any salt
• When cooking the mussels, keep the pan covered and turn them every once in a while to make sure they will all open
• Once opened, the mussels are cooked
• Do not overcook the mussels, two to three minutes are enough.
• If some mussels are still not open, remove the opened ones from the pan and cook only the closed ones.
• Any mussels that remain closed even after cooking should be discarded
• Remove any broken open mussels after you have cooked them, but do not worry if you cooked a broken one with the others. The rest of the mussels will not be infected.

Cooking the chayote

1. Peel the chayotes
2. Remove the central seed and cut them in small cubes.
3. Boil the chayote with 1 teaspoon of salt for 20 minutes at medium heat.
4. Once the Chayote is fork tender, drain it and transfer it to a bowl to cool completely.

Making the soup

Once all the main components are ready, we can put it all together.

We must mix the fish fumet, the water from the mussels, and the Chayote to make the mousse.

It is essential to mix the correct quantity to balance taste and consistency.

1. Start by adding ½ cup of mussels water and ⅓ of fish fumet to the Chayote and blend in a food processor.
2. Taste and add more fish fumet or mussels water until you reach your desired taste and texture.

Serving the Chayote soup

Once the mousse is ready, pour it into the dishes and decorate it with a few mussels and Begonia or broccoli rabe heads.

Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil and black pepper.

This soup is best served cold,, but it can also be served warm. When eating, the sweetness of the mussel will be balanced by the acidity of the Cime di Rapa or the Begonia, all softly bounded by the Chayote mousse.

It is the perfect starter for a fancy no, carbs, low calories dinner!

As main you can serve:

• Whole Sea Bream Recipe Cooked in Salt
• Trout in a parcel with lemon and parsley served with basmati rice
• Cod with potatoes

Top tips

Tips for the chayote squash

• Chayote is just a zucchini squash with one large seed in the center. You can substitute it with other zucchini, but you may not get the same smooth texture.
• The chayote has needles in its skin. Make sure they have been removed before you touch them. They usually do this at the supermarket.

Chayote is so smooth and creamy that there is no need to add potatoes or beans. This soup has no carbs, and since chayote is a squash, it is also very low on calories.

You can use chayote squash as a base for any no-carb soup you want to make!

Edible flowers Begonia

Edible flowers are an excellent decoration to use for a festive dinner party. Not only do they add color to a particular dish,, but they also have a unique taste.

They are very versatile, and you can use them in many ways, but I prefer using them raw.

Cooking edible flowers ruins their beauty, and their fresh, colorful look brings joy to a dish.

The intense red color and the beautiful shape of the Begonia give such a festive look to this smooth mousse. They are the perfect combination of color as well as taste.

The Begonia has an acidic taste that breaks the chayote's sweetness and the seafood. It is so elegant floating on this light green foam, like a water lily.

Substitution

A perfect replacement for Begonia is Boccoli rabe (Cime di Rapa) as they have a similar bitter taste.

Cime di Rapa node, also called Rapini, is commonly marketed as broccoli raab/rabe in the United States.

They look like tiny broccoli but have a bitter taste. In Italy, they are served stir-fried garlic, often with Orecchiette pasta.

We Italians cook them like broccoli, and we don't remove their bitter taste as this is what we like about them.

1. Clean and boil the Cime di Rapa for 10 minutes in a separate pan with a teaspoon of salt.
2. When done, drain them and put them in iced water to preserve their lovely green color.
3. Add two to three heads in each plate

If you are making the chayote squash soup, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.

Origin of this recipe

This recipe is from my uncle Nicola Zerbi