SPRING HERB SOUP SHOTS

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves 6-8

I’ve been making this soup for years and it tastes slightly different every time, depending on the strength of the herbs used. You can vary the herbs, but I find that the stronger ones like thyme, rosemary, coriander and tarragon dominate and overwhelm the subtle fragrance of the soup. I’ve used a bit of flour, like an oldfashioned roux, to thicken the soup, but it doesn’t taste of anything and when it’s cooked and blended you wouldn’t know it was there. I’ve tried using potato instead to thicken it, but you just don’t get that silky consistency.

If you grow your own herbs, this is the perfect way to use up your pruning bits when they start to bolt or get out of control. Last year I had an abundance of lovage, which is too overpowering to put in the soup, soiuseda tempura batter to turn the leaves into fritters and served them as an accompaniment.

INGREDIENTS

– a handful of parsley – a handful of chervil – a handful of fennel or

dill fronds

– a handful of basil –1leek

– 1 tbsp rapeseed oil –1tbspflour

– 1.5 litres vegetable

stock

METHOD

Start by washing the herbs and separating the leaves and delicate stalks from the thicker ones (keep both). You can keep the fennel or dill intact. Roughly chop and wash the leek.

Gently cook the leek in the rapeseed oil in a covered pan for a couple of minutes, until soft, stirring every so often. Add the flour and stir well, then gradually add the vegetable stock and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bring to the boil; add the thicker herb stalks and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Add the rest of the herbs and simmer for two more minutes only.

Blend until smooth in a liquidiser or Nutribullet, then strain through a medium strainer, as a finemeshed sieve will not allow some of the bits of herbs through. To keep its green colour, you need to cool the soup down as quickly as possible, so put the bowl of strained soup over another bowl of iced water, then chill.

Re-season if necessary and serve from the fridge in shot glasses or espresso cups. If you feel like it, garnish with finely chopped herbs, cream or crème fraîche.