Chilled pea & mint soup

The time has come to defrost my freezer. This task is long overdue and my freezer has started sending me messages. It is like the North Pole in there, ice and snow everywhere. Since we are leaving for sunny beaches in a few days (and my Sicilian mother-in-law's cooking - fear not I will document and pass on recipes! I promise), I have decided to use up everything in it and pull the plug.

So, my daughter has been eating long-forgotten home-made fruit/yogurt/honey popsicles for the past couple of days, I have been thinking of how to use up the frozen egg whites (problem being, how many are in there? Three? Note to self: write date and amount next time) and I found myself staring at a huge bag of frozen peas yesterday afternoon. I like peas as much as the next girl but I admit I went a little overboard when I discovered an amazing soup recipe last winter...but more on that when it gets cooler.

So, what do you do with a 1kg bag of frozen peas on August 1st? You make chilled pea and mint soup, you whip up some mint and yogurt and make your family very happy.

Ingredients (3-4 people)

1kg frozen peas

1 yellow onion

vegetable stock

a large bunch of mint

1 tub of Greek yogurt (150gr)

e.v. olive oil

pepper

Pour a little olive oil into a pan and saute the onion you will have previously chopped. You don't need to chop it too carefully as you will be using an immersion blender later. Add in the peas and almost cover them with the vegetable stock. Let simmer until the peas soften but make sure they keep their bright green colour. You do not want green-grey mush. Throw in the mint leaves, making sure you keep some aside for the yogurt (approx. 1 or 2 tablespoons) and to garnish, and blend. Let the soup cool. Chop the rest of the mint leaves finely and mix in a bowl with the Greek yogurt. Store this in the fridge. When your soup has cooled, ladle it into individual bowls, add some freshly ground pepper, drizzle with olive oil and then garnish with the mint speckled yogurt and some chopped mint.

Refreshing and healthy!