Peas Please!

Last week my house mate left me for France and also left a bag of peas in their pods.  I only just re-discovered them today and needless to say I did not have a clue what to do with them.  I spent today helping out my church preparing for holiday club, and must admit to scoffing one too many cupcakes and biscuits, a childish mistake which resulted in a ruined appetite for dinner.  Looking at the peas, looking at my stomach which refused to be hungry for real food, and looking back at the pods, I decided some podding was in order, and hopefully the sight of shiny green peas popping out might re-ignite my appetite.  Meanwhile though, a coffee and cupcake was in order to see me through the podding... (some people do NOT learn...)

Thinking about peas invariably always leads to thinking about mint, so one wet but short trek later to our mint weed patch and a handful of mint joined my shiny peas.  A rogue new potato was found in my cupboard along with a fat clove of garlic sitting around the work top hoping to be useful, a small onion rolls on scene and I am suddenly inspired to make soup!  In hindsight, lemon juice would have been a welcome addition, the acid adds another sparkling dimension to the soup, magically pulling all the flavours together.  Next time... I decided to pulse blend the soup to add some texture, a generous grind of pepper and a drizzle of plain yoghurt later and enjoyed a lovely light meal which felt healthy, therefore (in my opinion) justifying the copious cupcake eating I did today...

Fresh Pea Soup
(Serves 1)

Ingredients:

• 1 Small potato (about 50g)
• 75g Peas (podded weight)
• 1 Small Onion
• 1 Clove Garlic
• Handful of mint (about 10g)
• 300ml Water or stock
• 1tsp Olive Oil
• Squeeze of lemon
• Salt and Pepper
• Plain Yoghurt to garnish

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a small pan, slice the onions, crush and mince the garlic then add to the pan and gently fry for about 5 minutes, covered.
2. Cube the potato in 5mm cubes and add to the pan, stirring to coat in the juices.  Cover and continue to cook gently for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the peas and water, bring to the boil, season and simmer for 20-30 minutes until all the vegetables are tender (fresh peas take a lot longer to cook compared to frozen - adjust time accordingly).  Add the mint in the last 10 minutes of cooking.
4. Blend the soup roughly by using a pulse motion with the blender, so some peas stay intact.
5. Squeeze in pepper and lemon juice to taste then serve with a dollop of plain yoghurt.