I’ve been thinking a lot about colour lately. Between pulling together mood boards for my upcoming book(!!) as well as another exciting project I have in the works, colour chemistry has been very front of mind for me lately.
And if someone asked me to pick my absolute favorite colour to work with in the kitchen? It would have to be, without question, green.
It’s not because I’m a health freak, and I’m actually not that obsessed with shades of green outside the kitchen (I rarely wear it). However, when it comes to food, green carries an electric energy that no other colour can match. I’m not just talking about fresh mint leaves, crunchy snap peas, or dark cavolo nero, though I love those too. It’s the high impact, punchy greens that really hook me: a vibrant salsa verde, a bright mojo verde, rough cut chimichurri, or a fiery zhoug. Even just seeing little rounds of green Thai birds eye chilis in fish sauce just does something to me. The more that I think about it, I actually do often think that every dish is missing something green. And this opinion is not purely aesthetic. Green food signals life, freshness, and just gives an immediate vibrancy. Green gives any dish instant, how do I put this, confidence, stature and attitude, if you know what I mean?
All of which brings me to this here green pea and basil soup. The feelings I have toward this lemony green, basil-y, and Parmesan-y number are rather strong. But, that said, this is actually more of a loose and intuitive recipe. This soup is the kind of cooking where you taste as you go, and just trust your palate. The framework is super simple: leeks, onion, and garlic sweated down until sweet and golden, combined with chicken stock and sweet frozen peas.
The real magic lies in blanching and ice shocking fresh spinach and basil, before blitzing them into the pot, alongside a generous downpour of Parmesan and fresh lemon juice. The result is quite possibly the greenest thing you will cook all year. It’s velvety smooth, it’s intensely aromatic, and it’s perfectly balanced between sweet, salty, and sour. Enjoy!!
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes (plus 2 hours chilling, if you’re serving it cold)
Chef’s knife
Cutting board (gorgeous, but definitely an investment)
Large, heavy based soup pot
High powered blender OR immersion stick blender
Small saucepan (for blanching)
Large bowl, filled with ice water (aka an ice bath)
Microplane, or fine grater
2 large leeks, white and pale green parts washed, and sliced into rounds
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