Green Courgette and Pea Soup
- Savory
- Light
- Stovetop
- Oven
A light, silky summer soup of softened courgettes and sweet peas, finished with crème fraîche and fresh mint. Serve it chunky or blended smooth, whichever you prefer.
- Total
- 35 min
- Prep 10 · Cook 25
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Sweating · Simmering
Instructions
-
Peel and finely chop the onion. Trim the courgettes and cut them into 2 cm chunks. Pick the mint leaves and roughly chop them.
~10 min
-
Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of the salt and sweat for 6 to 8 minutes, until soft and translucent but not browned.
~8 min
Sweating gently draws out moisture and sweetness without browning, so the onion flavours the soup without turning bitter or dark.
Sweating Keep the heat medium and stir often; the onion should turn soft and translucent, never golden. If it colours, the heat is too high.
-
Add the courgettes and cook for 4 minutes, stirring, until they start to soften and glisten.
~4 min
A short stir before the liquid goes in softens the courgettes and coats them in oil, building a sweeter base for the soup.
-
Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 8 minutes, until the courgettes are tender when pierced with a knife.
~8 min
A gentle simmer keeps the soup clear and the courgettes intact; a hard boil would break them up and muddy the flavour.
Simmering Hold a gentle, lazy bubble rather than a rolling boil, and check courgettes with a knife; they should slide in easily without collapsing.
-
Stir in the peas and cook for 4 minutes, until bright green and tender. Take the pot off the heat.
~4 min
Peas cook fast and lose their sweetness and colour if overcooked, so adding them late keeps them bright and fresh.
Add the peas late and keep the simmer gentle: overcooked peas turn dull and lose their sweet freshness.
Simmering Hold a gentle, lazy bubble rather than a rolling boil, and check courgettes with a knife; they should slide in easily without collapsing.
-
Blend about half the soup with an immersion blender, or ladle half into a blender and pulse, then stir it back for a part-chunky texture. Stir in the crème fraîche and chopped mint, then season with the remaining salt and the black pepper. Taste and adjust before serving.
~1 min
Blending only half keeps some courgette pieces whole, giving body and texture so the light soup does not taste thin.
Blend only part of the soup so some courgette pieces stay whole; that contrast keeps a light soup from feeling thin.
