CHILLED ENGLISH PEA AND MINT SOUP

Ingredients

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

4 cups vegetable stock

3 cups fresh, shelled English peas or thawed frozen peas

1/4 cup whipping cream

3/4 cup spinach, washed and trimmed

4 sprigs fresh mint, leaves only

1 bunch pea tops or mint leaves, for garnish

Method

In a medium saucepan on medium-low heat, sauté the butter, onions and garlic until the onions are softened and garlic is lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cream, spinach and mint. Season lightly with salt.

Fill a large bowl with ice. Allow the soup to cool slightly, then transfer it to a blender and purée until smooth. Strain the soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Set the bowl of soup over the ice to chill quickly.

To serve, divide the chilled soup among 4 glasses or 12 small cups. Garnish with pea tops or mint leaves and serve immediately.

Flavourful soups like this are often best without wine, but a delicate sparkler would be good, as would the complementary flavours of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Recipe excerpted from the book Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant © 2009, by James Walt. Published by Douglas & McIntyre: an imprint of D&M Publishers Inc. Reprinted with permission of the publisher. Due in October, 2009.