Minted Ham Pea Soup Shots Food

MINTED HAM & PEA SOUP SHOTS

Steps:

• Heat the butter in a large pan. Add the ham, frozen peas, 850ml hot water (straight from the kettle), chicken stock cube and the handful of mint leaves. Season well.
• Bubble for 30 secs-1 min until the peas have defrosted, then remove from the heat, add the double cream and blitz with a hand blender. Serve in teacups topped with a swirl of cream, extra ham and small mint leaves, with cheese straws for dunking.

PEA & MINT SOUP

Steps:

• Put the spring onions into a large pan with the potato, garlic and stock. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potato is very soft. For the garnish, blanch 3 tbsp of the shelled peas in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, drain, put in a bowl of cold water and set aside. Add the remaining peas to the soup base and simmer for 5 minutes - no longer, or you will lose the lovely fresh flavour of the peas.
• Stir in the mint, sugar and lemon or lime juice, cool slightly then pour into a food processor or liquidiser and whizz until as smooth as you like. Stir in half the buttermilk or soured cream, taste and season with salt and pepper.
• To serve the soup cold, cool quickly, then chill - you may need to add more stock to the soup before serving as it will thicken as it cools. To serve hot, return the soup to the rinsed-out pan and reheat without boiling (to prevent the buttermilk or soured cream from curdling).
• Serve the soup in bowls, garnished with the remaining buttermilk and the drained peas.

MINTY PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 6-8 minutes. Add 2 cups broth and bring to a boil. Add peas, reduce heat, and simmer gently until tender, about 5 minutes for fresh peas, about 2 minutes for frozen.
• Remove pot from heat. Add parsley, mint, and remaining 2 cups broth to pot. Purée soup in a blender or with an immersion blender, thinning with water if soup is too thick, until smooth. Season soup with salt and pepper.
• Whisk crème fraîche and cream in a small bowl to blend. Serve warm soup topped with chives, passing crème fraîche mixture alongside for spooning over.

PEA & HAM SOUP

Steps:

• Heat a knob of butter in a saucepan and when lightly foaming gently cook 1 chopped onion until softened, but not coloured.
• Tip in 1 peeled and diced medium potato and stir to coat in butter, then pour over 1l ham or pork stock. Simmer until softened.
• Tip in 500g frozen petit pois and bring back to the boil. Cook for a couple of mins.
• Remove from the heat and blend until smooth. Stir in 300g diced ham and serve.

SOUP MAKER PEA & HAM SOUP

Steps:

• Put the onion, potatoes, stock and peas into a soup blender, and press the 'smooth soup' function. Make sure you don't fill the soup maker above the max fill line.
• Once the cycle is complete, season, and stir in the ham before serving.