Chilled pea soup with frozen mint & malt vinegar

Contains pork – recipe is for non-Muslims only
Serve this silky smooth soup with flavoured ice cubes to keep it chilled – garnish with fresh peas and crispy bacon for a dinner party

Prep:25 mins
Cook:25 mins
plus chilling and freezing

Serves 6
Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 423
fat 23g
saturates 8g
carbs 37g
sugars 27g
fibre 10g
protein 11g
salt 0.6g

Ingredients

75g butter
4 rashers smoked streaky bacon
1 onion, sliced
50g golden caster sugar
700g frozen peas, defrosted
10 mint leaves
75ml distilled malt vinegar
4 tbsp demerara sugar
½ small bunch mint, leaves picked
50g shelled fresh peas
50ml rapeseed oil
a few small mint leaves

Tip

Tom's tip

To keep your soup super green, sieve it into a bowl set into a slightly larger bowl filled with ice – this will help to retain the freshest colour.

Get ahead

You can make the ice cubes two days ahead. The day before, you can cook the soup and chill it overnight.

Method

First, make the ice cubes. Bring 75ml water, the malt vinegar and sugar to the boil. Add the mint leaves and set aside to steep for 10 mins. Strain into a jug, then pour into 12 holes of an ice cube tray and freeze until solid.
In a heavy-based saucepan, heat the butter until foaming, add the bacon and fry until crispy. Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onion to the pan and cook until soft, about 10 mins. Add the sugar and 400ml water, bring to the boil, then add the frozen peas and mint. Bring back to the boil for 1 min, then remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. Pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl (see tip below). Taste and season, then cover with cling film and chill until ready to serve.
Chop the crispy bacon into small bits. To serve, mix the bacon with the fresh peas and rapeseed oil in a bowl. Ladle the soup into your dishes and add the ice cubes (if you like, you can crush them a bit too). Top with the bacon and peas, and scatter over a few mint leaves.