What I love about summer soups is all the fresh vibrant coloured farmers market veggies that it is composed of, the ones that taste so sweet and need only a little seasoning to make the dish great. I couldn’t resist in buying the cutest little cauliflowers, spring peas a few days ago and instantly started craving for those classic summer soups we have in Scandinavia. Despite this version being a bit more modern, with a zingy taste of lemon zest, tangy shiitake and garlic in the background, the base is still fairly similar in flavour and texture. As I’m writing this post, I’m sunbathing on the balcony drinking a cup of tea and finally feeling hopeful that summer is around the corner, despite the minuet hale storms we have, here and there. A little tip, the purple cauliflower tends to dye the soup a bit of a greyish colour as you can see in the pictures so if you wish to avoid this effect, sauté them separately in a pan and then add them to the soup last minute. Of course, this plate is extra delicious because of the toasted cashews and boiled egg on top that oozes its beautiful yolk all over the colourful vegetables.

Ingredients

• A selection of colourful cauliflower (I used green, purple and white)
• 1 large shallot
• 1 cup shiitake mushrooms
• 4-5 cloves of garlic grated
• 1 celery stalk
• I cup fresh peas
• 1 cup spinach leaves
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup cream
• salt/ ground black pepper/ lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon honey dijon
• 1 egg boiled or poached
• toasted cashews, walnuts and almonds (toast on a dry pan with a pinch of salt to release flavour)

Directions

Begin be gently sautéing the finely chopped shallot, celery and grated garlic in a bit of butter until they become more translucent . Then add the shiitake mushrooms, lemon zest, cauliflower (keep in mind that the purple cauliflower dies the soup a bit greyish colour. If you do not wish for this effect, sauté them separately and add them to the soup in the end) and stir for another 5 minutes. Add in some vegetable stock, a teaspoon of honey dijon, a splash of cream, ground black pepper and a pinch of salt. Let it simmer gently with the lid on for about 10 minutes so all the flavours begin to emerge. Add in the fresh sweet peas and spinach leaves and cook for a remaining 7-10 minutes with the lid on. Boil for 7 minutes or poach an egg ( if you don’t know how, easily check for YouTube for some videos) on top and taste for seasoning.  Garnish with ground black pepper, chives, toasted nuts (cashews,walnuts, almonds) and enjoy!

Save

Save

Save