Nicole’s little sister once told her that the fastest way to make soup is to heat up some stock and blitz raw vegetables into it. That way, you keep all the vitamins and get an amazing colour.
She ignored her, of course, but five years later she’s following her sister’s advice. Ask for an air-dried ham at the deli, or go for a really good Parma or Ibérico ham.
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
500ml hot chicken stock
1 tsp English mustard
250g frozen peas
250g fresh peas in their pods
1 tbsp mascarpone
100g air-dried mountain ham
flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
1 Bring the stock to the boil and stir in the mustard. Taste it and season with salt and pepper if needed.
2 Process the frozen peas with the stock in a blender until smooth.
3 Remove most of the fresh peas from their pods.
4 Pour the soup back into the pan, add the podded peas and warm it through.
5 For the garnish, slice a couple of reserved pea in their pods lengthways and remove every other pea.
6 Dot some mascarpone in between the peas. Divide the soup between 2 bowls and place the mascarpone pea pods on top, along with thin slithers of ham. Serve.
Recipe and image from Magic Soup by Nicole Pisani and Kate Adams. Published by Hachette Australia, RRP$45.00