Make the most of your farmers market finds this summer with this sweet corn chowder.

EVANSVILLE – Does anything say “Indiana summer” like fresh sweet corn?

This corn chowder is an amazing summer dish made with fruits of the garden, but is wonderful in the winter too, made with frozen corn.

Best of all, this soup freezes well, so you can make a big batch and freeze a few quarts for later in the year.

As a variation, we like to season with our favorite Cajun seasoning mix and add a cup of raw small peeled and deveined shrimp for five minutes before we finish with the corn and cream.

Recipe for summer sweet corn chowder

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

3 cups fresh sweet corn, removed from cob, cobs reserved (about 4 large ears of corn)

3 tablespoons butter

? cup chopped onion

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

1/3 cup diced red bell pepper

1/2 cup diced carrot

1/2 cup diced celery

1/4 cup flour

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 medium red potatoes, scrubbed, diced

2 cups heavy cream

? teaspoon white pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the butter in a dutch oven and add the onion, garlic, bell pepper, carrot and celery. Sprinkle with some of the salt, cover and sweat over medium-low heat until tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute.

2. Whisk in the stock and scrape the juice from the corn cobs into the pot with the dull edge of a knife. Add the potatoes and remaining salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the corn, heavy cream, and pepper and heat to a simmer but do not boil. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt as necessary.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Recipe for sweet corn chowder