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This soup is best in the springtime when fresh peas are sweet and the surroundings are blooming …
Peas, fresh onions, lettuce and spinach make this soup bright green and tasty. The crispy bacon is optional, but gives it a twist.
The mint is to be kept for the final act, when you have reheated the soup, right before you serve with the spoonful of pure yogurt and the dash of nutmeg.
Fresh Minty Pea Soup
Ingredients
900 g fresh peas, shelled (Note: weight after shelling is approximately 315 g)
50 g butter
4 spring onions, finely chopped
4 lettuce leaves, finely chopped
1 rasher unsmoked bacon, rind removed and finely chopped (Note: a very thin slice of ham may be used instead)
50 g leaf spinach, fresh and young
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon mint, finely chopped and fresh
1 to 2 tablespoons yogurt
nutmeg, freshly grated
Salt, to taste
black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
Method
1. In a large saucepan melt the butter and gently sauté the chopped spring onions, lettuce, bacon and spinach, for about 5 minutes. Add the peas and salt. Stir the ingredients together. Add 750 ml of warm water. Add the sugar, cover, and let the peas simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are soft. Allow the soup to cool a bit. When the soup has cooled to a safe degree, use a blender to whiz it to a purée, in batches, until smooth (Note: you will find it helpful to have a bowl handy in which to place the batches as they are puréed).
2. Taste and season with additional salt (if needed) and pepper. Gently reheat.
3. When sufficiently reheated stir the mint into the soup and serve in hot bowls. Garnish each bowl with a teaspoon of yogurt and a dash of nutmeg.
Serves: 4 to 6
