Pea Soup Two Ways

How to make pea soup two ways. Apart from being easy-peasy (sorry, couldn’t resist) to make, both are healthy and ultra-delicious.

For those who find this kind of soup a bit sweet, adding ground ginger and fresh coriander (cilantro) or arugula/rocket leaves, changes the soup dramatically and delivers a soup with real oomph.

The humble green pea packs a punch nutrition-wise – it’s loaded with vitamins and minerals among other things (see Nutritional Information). Green peas are also a really low-fat food.

People on extreme calorie-watch think I’ve added cream to my soups when they see them. I find it hard to convince them that although the soups are creamy in texture, there isn’t a drop of cream in them.

I mostly use nothing but vegetables, pulses and either plain water or stock when making vegetable soup. The creamy texture comes from liquidizing the soup once the vegetables are cooked.

Optional extras to add to the soup before serving

Chopped fresh mint leaves
Boiled eggs
Feta cheese
Smoked salmon
Dry-fried Parma ham

Apart from the mint leaves, all the other extras will make either soup more of a meal in itself.

Pea soup the traditional way for 4 people:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

450g, 1lb, 3 cups, fresh or frozen peas

350ml, 12floz, 1½ cups water

1 level teaspoon salt

black pepper

1. Place the oil and chopped onion in a pot. Gently fry the onion, stirring, over a low to medium heat until the onion is soft but not brown, 5-7 minutes.

2. Add the peas, salt, some black pepper and the water to the pot. Bring to a simmer. If you are using frozen peas, simmer for about 30 seconds before removing the pot from the heat. If you are using fresh peas, simmer for 5 minutes before removing the pot from the heat.

3. Either use a stick blender to liquidise the soup straight in the pot, or let the soup cool down to room temperature and use a liquidizer. If you think the soup is too thick, just add some more water.

4. Reheat the soup in the pot and check the seasoning (I like mine a bit peppery to reduce the sweetness of the peas). Taste to make sure you are happy with the seasoning.

You can serve the soup as it is or with either some chopped mint, feta cheese, sliced smoked salmon or shredded, dry-fried Parma ham (quickly fry slices of Parma ham in a dry frying pan over a high heat until crisp).

Pea soup with ginger and coriander or arugula/rocket leaves

Same ingredients as above +

I heaped teaspoon ground ginger

2 large handfuls of fresh coriander (cilantro) or arugula/rocket leaves

Fry the ground ginger together with the onion and salt and pepper. Add the fresh coriander (cilantro) or arugula to the the peas before you liquidise it.

See optional extras above that you can add to the soup.

“So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being.” Franz Kafka

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