This is a really tasty soup and with peas, lardons and potatoes it really is a meal in itself. The only little hitch is that it is preferable to pass the soup through a mouli before serving to remove any pea skins and bits of lardon and to make sure you get a nice creamy smooth texture.

So it does add a little but of extra work but it is worth it 🙂 And a mouli is a handy kitchen utensil for making really nice purées

Ingredients :

• 500g frozen peas
• 6 potatoes
• 2 onions
• 250g smoked lardons
• 50g butter
• Salt
• Pepper
• Chicken Stock

Method :

1. Measure out peas and allow to defrost
2. Peel and chop potatoes and onions
3. In a large saucepan melt the butter and add the onions, peas, chopped potatoes and lardons and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes stirring all the time
4. Season with salt and pepper and add chicken stock until all ingredients are covered
5. Cook for 25 minutes and then blend the soup to remove as many bits as possible and then pass it through a mouli to get a smooth velouté

A Mouli

Vichyssoise – otherwise known as leek and potato soup! The autumn evenings are perfect for soup and this particular one is an all time favourite in this house. Home-made soup is cheap, easy and really tasty!

It is sometimes called vichyssoise here in France but to the best of my knowledge that refers to potato and leek soup served chilled – I’ve never tried it cold and am not about to 🙂

Some other soups on MyFrenchTable : Courgette Soup ; Mushroom Velouté

Ingredients :

• 300g leeks
• 600g potatoes
• 1.5 litres of chicken stock
• 30g butter
• 10cl crème fraîche (optional)

Method :

1. Peel and chop the potatoes and wash and chop leeks
2. Melt the butter in saucepan and add chopped leeks and cook over a medium heat until the soften
3. Add the chopped potato, mix well and continue cooking for another 5 minutes
4. Add the stock and pepper
5. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat and leave to simmer for about 30 minutes
6. Strain the vegetables but keep the stock
7. Purée the vegetables and put the back in the saucepan with the crème fraîche (if using) and a ladle full of the stock
8. Put back over a gentle heat and mix well. Slowly add the stock back in mixing all the time until you get the consistency you like (as thick or as liquid depending on your preference)
9. If you are going to follow the french tradition of a vichyssoise once the soup has cooled down place in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving or just enjoy in hot!

*Of course you can simply mix the stock and veg together without going through the process of straining and adding the stock back in. Doing it the way outlined above just means that you only add in as much stock as you need to get the consistency required.

A velouté is a french term meaning that the soup has been thickened, in this case using chicken stock, flour and butter, giving it a smooth and creamy texture. The word velouté comes from the word velour which means velvet. Mushrooms are in season at the moment so when I found I had too many left in the fridge I decided to make a mushroom velouté – a great way to use them up and a great starter or lunch!

Ingredients :

• 300g button mushrooms
• 1 small onion
• 50g butter
• 250ml chicken stock
• 500ml milk
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley (if you have it!)
• 1/2 lemon

Method :

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the chopped onion and the chopped mushrooms
2. Add salt, pepper and finely chopped parsley and mix well
3. Cover the pan and leave to cook on a gentle heat for 15 minutes
4. After 15 minutes sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of flour, mixing all the time
5. Pour in 250ml of stock and 500ml of milk while mixing continuously (to avoid any lumps)
6. Gradually bring to the boil and then lower the heat and allow to simmer gently for another 15 minutes (leave the lid off the saucepan)
7. Mix your soup with a blender or food processor
8. Just before serving add the juice of half a lemon