Thursday, 4th June 2009

Spring Vegetable Soup

My mind generally goes to soup in the cold winter months, with the possible exception of Gazpacho and Vichyssoise, but this Spring Vegetable Soup bridges that gap wonderfully using fresh early spring vegetables and herbs in a healthy and delicious combination.

Serves 4-6

• 750ml vegetable stock
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4 small leeks sliced
• 1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
• 3 celery stalks chopped
• 100g sugar snap peas, or frozen peas
• Small bunch of flat leaf parsley
• Small bunch of chervil (optional)
• 3 lovage leaves or a handful of sorrel leaves chopped
• 300g spinach
• Juice of half a lemon
• Nutmeg
• 2 tbsp crème fraiche
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Chive flowers (optional)

Method

Heat the oil in a large stock pot and add the leek, potato and celery and sweat for about 5 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.  Add the peas, herbs and spinach with 200ml of the stock and boil until the spinach has completely wilted.  Add the rest of the stock and bring to the boil.  Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the potato is cooked through.

Let the soup cool a little and then blend until smooth.  Add the lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper and a little freshly grated nutmeg to taste.  Gently reheat and add the crème fraiche before serving.  If you have any chive flowers in your garden this soup looks wonderful garnished with them, and it adds a great punch of chive flavour!

Monday, 1st June 2009

Pasta with Creamy Peas

This is a perfect late spring supper using ingredients that are bursting with seasonal flavour.  I prefer to use a shallot in this recipe as it has a mild and concentrated flavour and won’t overpower the other delicate vegetables, but of course a small onion could be used in  place of the shallot.

Serves 4

Ingredients

50g butter
1 shallot finely chopped
300g fresh peas (frozen are fine if you can’t get fresh)
1 little gem lettuce, shredded
salt and freshly ground black pepper
150ml single cream
400g penne pasta
75g Parmesan, freshly grated

Method

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until tender.

While the pasta is cooking melt the butter in a large frying pan.  Add the shallots, peas and fry on a gentle heat until the vegetables are getting soft.  Add the lettuce and cook for a further 5 minutes until soft.  The vegetables may need a little water adding if it looks like they are drying out.  Season with salt and pepper.

Warm the cream gently, but do not boil.

Drain the pasta and return to the pan.  Stir through the cream, and mix in the vegetables.  Add half the Parmesan and give it another gentle stir.  Serve at once and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.