Pea and Mint Soup

1. Finely chop the vegetables (shallots, garlic and chili pepper). Feel free to remove the seeds from the chili if you like. I kept about half of the seeds in but it’s totally optional.

2. Add the olive oil and butter to a large stock pot and heat over medium heat.

2. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until soft but try and avoid letting them brown.

3. While the onions and garlic saute, finely dice the herbs, keeping them all together if you like. If you are lazy like me, you can give the herbs a quick whiz in the blender to dice them for you!

4. When the onions are done, add the chili pepper (if using), the chopped herbs and all of the peas. If the peas are frozen, stir them around for 2-3 minutes to let them defrost.

5. Sprinkle the flour over the peas and stir to combine. This will help the soup thicken later.

6. Add the stock and bring to a boil.

7. Once you have a nice rolling boil, reduce the heat, cover the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes.

8. Remove from the heat and blend with a stick blender until the soup is smooth. If you don’t have a stick blender, then you can use a regular one but do it in small batches. Just make sure you fill the blender to less than a third each time and don’t totally close the lid while it blends, to let steam escape and avoid a nasty accident.

9. When the soup is smooth, return it to the pot and over gentle heat. Then stir in the heavy cream and half-and half.

10. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with some lovely bread, or a gorgeous salad if you’re feeling even healthier!