British Food Fortnight/6

I adore soups, hot or cold, chunky or smooth and this one, using the summer’s bounty of courgettes, peas and mint, is a favourite. In this version the soup has been given a bit of a chef’s treatment with smooth combined with chunky for an interesting twist. However if you are at the Full Fluids/Red or Soft Foods/Amber stage of eating, simply blitz everything together for a silky smooth soup. The small amount of cream in this recipe makes all the difference but can be replaced with plain yogurt if preferred, although take care when reheating the soup so that it does not separate when cooked to too high a temperature.

Courgette, Pea and Mint Soup

Ingredients

Fry Light olive oil spray
1 onion, chopped
3 medium courgettes
300g young fresh peas or frozen petits pois, thawed
1.25 litres hot vegetable stock
1/2 x 20g pack mint
6 tbsp single cream
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Spray a large non-stick pan with Frylight. Add the onion and fry gently until softened, about 10 minutes.
2. Coarsely grate the courgettes and place 4 heaped tablespoons into a bowl with 2 tbsp of the peas or petits pois and set aside. Add the remaining courgettes and peas to the pan and mix well.
3. Add the stock, bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes or until the peas are just tender. Remove from the heat.
4. Finely shred the mint leaves and mix 2 teaspoons of the mint into the reserved uncooked vegetables. Add the remaining mint to the pan with the cream.
5. Blitz the soup with a hand blender (or use a food processor) until completely smooth. Season to taste. Return to the heat and cook until hot enough to serve.
6. Ladle the soup into shallow bowls. Mix the lemon zest with the reserved uncooked vegetables and spoon into the centre of the bowls to serve.

SERVES 4
WLS PORTION: 1/2
V vegetarian

CALORIES: 120
PROTEIN: 8.3g
CARBOHYDRATE: 11.4g
FAT: 4.5g

Image courtesy of Waitrose, where more than 5,000 recipes can be viewed at www.waitrose.com