Pea, Leek and Fennel Soup: Meat Free Monday

Another soup for January’s Meat Free Monday feature this week, mainly because I’ve been eating ALOT of soup but also because it’s a great way of settling down after the christmas period and getting some nutrients and vegetables!

I’m actually going to dedicate this recipe to my sister because she’s so supportive of every creative venture I do also she is always ringing me up saying “Becky make more soup”! So here is a soup that I think she will love! 🙂

Serves 4

1 Large Onion
1 Leek
1/2 Fennel
160g Peas (frozen)
2 Sticks Celery
1 Garlic Clove
850ml Vegetable stock
1 Small Bunch Mint
1 Small Bunch Parsley
Olive Oil

To prepare the vegetables – Finely dice the onion, slice the leek, celery and fennel and crush the garlic clove. Finely chop the herbs and put to one side.

Heat a drizzle of oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion, leek, celery and garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add the fennel, peas, mint and parsley and continue to fry for 4-5 minutes making sure you stir the vegetables well. Season with some black pepper and a little salt (remember powdered vegetable stock is usually quite salty).

Add the vegetable stock and simmer on a medium heat for 15 minutes.

You could eat this like a broth with out blending it, but the way I like it is to use a slotted spoon and remove two or three spoonfuls of the vegetables then blend the soup and stir the vegetables back in again. This makes it a smooth soup with a little texture!