Pea, Mint & Feta Soup
Cook Time: ~20 Minutes
This is, hands down, one of my favourite soups because it contains such simple & nutritious ingredients, requires minimal preparation, is packed with flavour, and can be served hot or chilled. Whatsmore, it goes some way towards bursting the myth that eating healthily is expensive, as all of the ingredients in this recipe are super low cost and can be found in any supermarket.
Serves: 5-6 portions
Time: ~20 Minutes
Information - What you require
Ingredients
• 300g broccoli
• 400g frozen peas
• Bunch of spring onions
• 500g spinach
• 30g fresh mint
• 1.2L of stock (vegetable or chicken)
• 100g feta cheese
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Ground black pepper & salt
Optional Ingredients & Notes
• Feta cheese: The feta cheese is only for garnishing your soup when serving; if you save batches for later avoid leaving feta in the base of the soup. In the absence of the feta, the soup still tastes incredible.
• Extra virgin oil: When serving individual portions, a spritz of extra virgin oil on the surface of your soup goes down nicely. I find this to be particularly true if served chilled.
• Stock: I tend to use half chicken and half vegetable stock, but you may use either. Stock cubes are also fine.
Equipment
• Large pot
• Hand blender
Mise En Place - Food preparation
Take your 30g of mint, and separate the leaves from their stems. Evenly slice your spring onions. Cut your 300g of broccoli into florets; discarding the stalk. Take as much feta cheese as you require for serving, slice and then crumble between the fingers. You may decant the spinach, peas, and stock, but they can just as easily be poured from their container; saving yourself some washing up.
Cooking Process
Turn your hob up to medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Once hot, throw in your spring onions and cook until soft. This should take 4-5 minutes. Once soft, we are going to be adding our veggies. Considering that 500g of spinach has a large surface area if you have a smaller pot I would recommend adding the spinach first and consistently turning it over until ~1/2 of it has wilted. That should take ~1 minute.
Once half of your spinach has wilted take your broccoli and peas, empty them into the pot, add 1.2L of your desired stock, and season with ground black pepper and salt. I personally use an equal measure of both vegetable and chicken stock, but either will suffice. Stir the ingredients, ensuring there are no spring onions or spinach leaves stuck to the bottom of the pot. Bring the broth to a boil, and then bring the heat down and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes, or until the veg is tender.
Once the veg is soft, throw in most of your mint leaves (leaving some aside for garnishing) and hand blend the mixture until smooth. You should be left with a glistening, somewhat frothy, emerald green soup. Taste the soup, and season to taste. When serving, add a selection of mint leaves, sprinkle over some feta cheese, and drizzle a small amount of extra virgin oil on the surface.
This dish is deeply satisfying when served hot, but I find it to be equally as delicious when served chilled. To do this, I would advise making a focal point of the soup’s smooth texture; replacing the feta cheese and mint garnishes (the mint flavour will be present already) with a simple drizzle of extra virgin oil and a scattering of ground black pepper.
If you attempt this dish, please let me know how it goes, and if you variate the recipe in any way. Also, this newsletter relies upon word of mouth, so if you feel you know someone who would enjoy this publication please share it.
Thanks for reading,
Conor