Early Summer Basil Soup

From Vegetarian Cookbook, Paul Gayler, Dorling Kindersley, 2000.

Well, third day of summer so thought I’d try this early summer soup.

A leek was chopped roughly as well as two celery stalks. They went into a saucepan with 50g of butter. The lid was put on and on a low heat they were steamed for about seven minutes. A litre of stock was now added with the zest and juice of half a lemon. The mixture was brought to the boil and simmered for 15 minutes.

The pot was taken off the heat and the leaves of a bunch of basil were added. The soup was now blended until it had become reasonably smooth. It was left to cool and then went into the refrigerator for an hour.

Before serving six tablespoons of cream were stirred in and it was tasted for seasoning.

This was a light, flavoursome soup. I had cut back slightly on the amount of basil but it still came through strongly. The lemon added just the right hint of additional flavour.

I’ve made several meals lately from Paul Gayler’s books and they have been proving to be very acceptable.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔