select and wash/scrub all the veg you're going to use.
Put a large pan (5 litre) on low heat with 1 tablespoon (15g) of extra virgin olive oil.
chop the onions/garlic
and toss in giving a quick stir to distribute the oil
straight afterwards, chop the celery
Tip the celery in the pan and stir
Dice the potato into smallish roughly 1cm pieces
Add the diced potatoes and any other veg you have to hand like half a carrot, pepper or courgette that you may have lurking in the fridge. This is a great way to use them up.
turn the heat up a little and keep stiring frequently - it wants to start mushing down a litle and softening. You may need to add a little water to prevent it from sticking - but just a little.
Boil a kettle with 1000ml of water.
While the kettle is boiling, crumble the stock cube and add along with the salt and ground black pepper.
Add boiling water to the pan and turn up the heat to get it boiling.
add the frozen peas too
As soon as it's boiling properly, turn the heat to very low, and cover with a lid. It should just be boiling but only very gently.
Simmer for about 10 minutes. If you have any other suitable cooked veggies like carrot, cabbage etc that you want to use up, you can add them after 5 minutes. Small quantities and nothing with too strong a taste. The peas should be quite soft.
When the peas have softened add the black pepper and mint leaves, simmer gently for a further 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat, and with a powerful stick blender blend the pea and mint soup until fairly smooth – no need to overdo it though.
This soup can be served hot or cold. If serving cold, transfer the soup to the refrigerator to chill.
Otherwise serve straight away with hot "buttered" toast or warm wholemeal pitta.
portion up for the freezer if that's your plan - 345g per portion
Label with weight, type and date for ease of reference.
