In my line of work, sometimes I acquire excess food from time to time — it’s just stuff that’s left over. The protocol is to offer it first to the client, then the photography staff, art director and lastly the food stylist (me). Recently, we were shooting a video ad for a popular small appliance on location in someone’s home, I had to shop and prepare about 12 recipes in advance and arrive only to do last minute plating and garnishes. It’s not the best situation for food because the food can look wilted and old very quickly, but it had to be done, so I persevered and it was done. It was an extremely professional group and the video team was equally as lovely (everyone came over to hug me after the job was done). Because the location was a private house, we had to vacate very quickly, packing up in warp speed — no time to wash anything, everything was put into bags to be washed at home. The leftover food was repackaged and everyone helped and carry everything to my car. Many of the items (everything on set) was garbage because we didn’t have proper refrigeration (like chicken wings and drumsticks that sat out at room temperature for about 4 hours) but some of the vegetables were entirely usable, including the ingredients in this recipe. The bag of frozen petite pois (small peas) had defrosted but were still very cold so they were fine and the basil was in tip top shape and so this soup was born. Peas and basil are a lovely combination and I urge you to give it a try, it really is so refreshing and moreish plus it is an absolutely gorgeous colour. You can serve this simple soup hot or cold, we had it hot for dinner with a nice dollop of goats cheese melting into the soup. Bon Appetite!
Green Pea and Basil Soup, chaud ou froid
Makes about 1 L of soup
Ingredients:
- 750 g bag frozen petite pois (sweet peas), defrosted
- 500 mL vegetable stock (preferably homemade like this easy, economical recipe)
- 10-20 large basil leaves, to taste
- 4 basil leaves, chiffonade
- Sea salt, to taste
Directions:
- In a large glass container, combine the petite pois and vegetable stock with 10-20 basil leaves. Blend with an immersion blender until very smooth, taste and season accordingly.
- Press this liquid through a fine sieve (the pea skins are not a great texture in this soup). Serve hot or cold with a chiffonade of basil or a dollop of goats cheese.
Notes:
- This is a light soup, if you would like it to have more body, consider blending an avocado into it, starting with half and blend until smooth and taste for richness, blend in the second half if necessary.
- If you are not fond of basil, try mint, it also pairs beautifully with sweet peas.
- The beauty of this soup is its simplicity, no cooking, few ingredients.
[…] Green Pea and Basil Soup, chaud ou froid (hot or cold) […]
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Love the color!
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Eva, this is the deepest green coloured soup I’ve ever seen! I love it and would never guess it’s basil and peas! Thank you so much for this fantastic pairing idea; I have never combined basil and peas…. Such an imaginative way to treat leftover vegetables!
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Thank you kindly Sissi, I’m definitely making this beautiful green soul again in the heat of the summer. I love simple recipes like this at the cottage.
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mmm. . . This looks yummy. The presentation is wonderful.
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Such a gorgeous, vibrant soup! I’ve used peas and basil together in a salad, but soup sounds equally as lovely. Sounds like your hard work was duly noted!!
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Thanks Liz, it’s a lot of hurry up and wait! My favourite quote of the gig: me: I’ll be done in a minute, just need to remove the congealed blood from the chicken. Producer: I’m from Transylvania, I like congealed blood! It was a fun group.
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I’m going to have to try the pea and basil combination…different and I’m sure delicious.
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The colour is so uplifting Karen. Thank you for your kind words.
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That’s really wonderful that you don’t waste things and save what you can! 😀
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Hi Lorraine, I really try hard not to discard food. Thank you.
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I make a similar soup with mint. Should try basil — you’re right, they work so well with peas. That soup is a gorgeous color, BTW. Good stuff — thanks.
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Hi John, pea and mint are a classic combo and equally as delicious. Thank you for your kind words.
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12 recipes in advance? Oh goodness, that sounds like a lot of work and tricky balancing. Good on you Eva. Minted pea soup is one of my all-time favorites but I’ve not tried the combination of pea and basil in soup – I think I need to change that. Love the idea of the melty cheese in the center too. I would be interested in trying a cold version in the summer… things are starting to heat up around here! Bon appétit ma belle, x.
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It’s been a gorgeous Victoria Day weekend Kelly and the temperatures and weather were finally behaving. This delicious and vibrant soup will become a staple this summer.
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You know you always hear about split pea soup but I’ve never actually taken the time to read a recipe about it.
Very nice dalrin!
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Hey Dana, although split pea and green pea are the same (split being a dried and processed version) the flavour and colour are quite different. The colour is very bright and the flavour sweet, a perfect accompaniment to a light summer dinner.
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Mhmm! I just did something with snap peas and they fall under the same characteristics you just defined.
So good!
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I gotta try this just because we always have peas, veg stock and basil on hand – and it’s so easy! I’ll let you know how it turns out!
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Thank you so much Michela, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
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I love basil and peas and adding more texture sounds like a great idea though I’d probably just toss some crackers in. 🙂
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Thank you Maria, crumbled crackers sound like a lovely addition.
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This is really green and delicious :-))
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It certainly is quite green Angie, thank you.
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