London Pea Soup Recipe

Serving soup in a bowl made of bread looks fantastic as a starter, and the best thing is that the soup is delicious, too! Have a look at our other soup recipes for more cooking inspiration.

HOW TO MAKE LONDON PEA SOUP

Ingredients

• 5g dried yeast
• 300ml tepid water
• 560g strong white flour
• 10g sea salt
• 20ml rapeseed oil, plus extra for rubbing in the dough

For the pea soup:

• 1 knob of butter
• 3tbsp good quality olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• Pinch of paprika, plus extra to serve
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of smoked sea salt
• 500g frozen garden peas
• 400ml hot chicken stock
• 4tbsp créme fråiche with 2tsp horseradish cream mixed in
• Small bunch of mint, roughly chopped (12-18 small leaves reserved)
• Juice of 1 lemon, zest of half
• 200g smoked eel fillets, to serve

Method

1. Stir the yeast into the water with a fork. Weight the flour and salt into a bowl and add the oil. Pour in the dissolved yeast and stir. Once it comes together into a dough, turn it out and knead for 15 minutes (or 10 minutes by machine) until smooth and elastic. Put back in the bowl, cover in cling film and leave in a warm place to double in size or for 1 hour (whichever is first)
2. Heat the oven to 240C/Gas 9, and put in a baking sheet or stone to heat up. Divide the dough in to 6 balls, roll under the palm of your hand hands into a good round shape, then cover with rapeseed oil and place in a baking tray. Cover the tin and leave it in a warm place to double in size or for 30 minutes (whichever is first)
3. Place a dish of water on the oven floor for the perfect crust. Bake the rolls for 10 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 230C/Gas 8 and bake for a final 10 minutes until golden
4. To make the soup, heat the butter and the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and fry for 3 minutes or until soft and just colouring. Stir in the paprika, cayenne and smoked sea salt, then add the frozen peas and the hot chicken stock and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for about 6 minutes or until the peas are just cooked. Take off the heat
5. Slice the tops off the rolls and remove the inner crumb to make a bowl for the soup. Add the crumb to the soup with the créme fråiche, mint and lemon zest and juice. Blitz with a hand-held blender or add to a liquidizer and blend until smooth
6. Pour a little oil inside the bread rolls and season them. Return to the oven for another five minutes to harden slightly. Pour the soup into the bread rolls and flake the smoked eel over the top. Serve with a dusting of paprika and the reserved mint leaves on top