Welcome in the verdant asparagus and pea season with this light, refreshing and nutritious soup recipe.
It's incredibly easy to make and features fresh asparagus, frozen peas (to help keep costs down), spring onions, fresh mint, and fragrant truffle oil (if you like).
It's all blitzed down into a smooth and creamy soup and makes a lovely starter option when served at a dinner party or even as a light midweek meal option with a crunchy bread roll.
Add a drizzle of decadence with truffle oil at the end if you like and serve with a chilled white wine for a perfect drinks pairing to match.
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Yields:
8 serving(s)
Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
30 mins
Total Time:
1 hr
Cal/Serv:
283
Ingredients
400 g fine asparagus, woody ends discarded
75 g unsalted butter
1 kg frozen peas
6 spring onions, finely sliced
1 l hot vegetable stock
small bunch mint, leaves picked
150 g creme fraiche, plus extra to serve
truffle oil, to drizzle
Directions
1 Trim asparagus into 2.5cm (1in) pieces and separate the tips. Melt butter in a large pan and fry tips and a handful of the peas until tender, about 3min. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to use as garnish. 2 Return pan to heat and add spring onions and remaining asparagus pieces and fry for 3-5min until softened. Add remaining peas and stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for 7-8min. 3 Add mint and carefully blend until velvety smooth. 4 Reheat soup, if needed, and stir in the crème fraîche. Check seasoning. Ladle into warmed bowls and garnish with crème fraîche, the reserved asparagus and peas and a swirl of truffle oil, if using.
Get ahead: To keep soup vibrant, prepare to end of step 3 up to 3hr ahead. Set aside, along with the covered veg garnish. If vibrancy not an issue, soup can be made up to a day ahead. Cool, cover and chill. Complete recipe to serve, reheating the veg garnish in a small frying pan.
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
