Pea and Pesto Soup

Lovingly adapted from our hero and spirit animal Nigella Lawson, we’ve used our Traditional Vegetable Stock in place of the water in the original recipe for a brilliant flavour kick. As with all recipes boasting only a small handful of components, ingredient quality is paramount. Your soup depends almost entirely upon the pesto. Use the fresh gear in the refrigerated section of a deli or supermarket if you don’t want to bother with homemade, but never the jarred long life stuff. If you are Italian or have access to Italians and their homemade pesto, this is your moment to shine.

Serves

2 people

Ingredients

• 750ml of The Stock Merchant Traditional Vegetable Stock
• 375g fresh or frozen peas
• 1/4 of a red onion, chopped
• Juice of 1 large lime
• A scant teaspoon of sea salt (we love Olsson’s sea salt)
• Crème fraiche (we love Pepe Saya)
• A handful of pine nuts, toasted
• Fresh parsley, chopped
• Cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Bring the stock to the boil in a medium saucepan.
2. Add the frozen peas, red onion, salt and lime juice in the pan. Allow everything to simmer together nicely for around seven minutes.
3. Pour the soup into a blender; add the pesto and blend until smooth.
4. Ladle into bowls and top with pine nuts, crème fraiche and chopped parsley. Serve with extra wedges of lime, hot crusty bread and good butter. If you’re not ready to serve the soup straight away, simply return to the stovetop and allow to simmer slowly until you are.