Spicy Roast Courgette And Pea Soup
This courgette and pea soup is spicy, super easy and most importantly incredibly delicious. The salty roast courgette goes perfectly with the smooth and fresh pea soup. This light soup is perfect for a quick and healthy lunch.
Around June every year I suddenly realise that I desperately need ways to use up gluts of courgette. I love growing courgette in my small garden. I’m quite a terrible gardener and it’s pretty easy to grow, but it is prolific. I tend to have courgettes coming out my ears by mid July.
This recipe was born out of my need to use up courgettes. But don’t get me wrong – I absolutely love courgette. I know they get a bit of a bad wrap for being a bit watery, but I’m a fan. Roast courgette is one of my favourite ways to enjoy this bulbous veggie and it is delightful with the pea soup base.
Courgette and pea soup is not a pairing I would traditionally think of, but it’s an absolute winner. The smooth pea pesto soup against the oily and spicy courgette is perfect. Plus it looks absolutely gorgeous. This dish will not disappoint.
How to make courgette and pea soup
This recipe is incredibly simple and it’s broken into two main parts. First, roasting the courgette, second, making the pea and potato soup base.
Roasting the courgette is very easy, but without the proper diligence roast courgette can turn horribly watery and bland. The key here is to create an amazing marinade which will not only flavour the courgette but give it a little crispness. You want something with a little sugar that will caramelise in the oven. That’s where my harissa dressing comes in. It’s made of a tablespoon of harissa, four cloves of crushed garlic, a little salt and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Tossing the courgettes in this before roasting will colour the outside and create wonderful crispy parts to the courgette.
Now the second part to this courgette and pea soup is the smooth pea soup. Pea soup is mind bogglingly easy but there’s one key thing that most people get wrong when making a pea soup – overcooking the peas. Frozen peas literally need about 30 seconds in hot water to de-thaw and become perfectly fresh and sweet. Once they’ve de-thawed it’s time to remove them from the heat.
Cooking peas for any longer than just de-frosting risks turning them into bitter and shrivelled lumps. If you take anything away from this recipe it’s this – don’t over cook peas!
Variants of courgette and pea soup
My spicy harissa courgette and pea soup is just one way you can enjoy this glorious combo. Here’s a few ideas for riffs on this original recipe to help you create more tasty meals.
- Courgette, pea and mint soup – a courgetty take on the classic pea and mint soup. Replace the 20g of basil in the original recipe with 40g of fresh mint. Roast the courgettes with a mixture of the juice from 1/2 a lemon, 1 tsp of cumin and 4 tablespoons of olive oil instead.
- Courgette, pea and pesto soup – this recipe has a more pronounced basil flavour as you drizzle the pesto on the soup after preparing. Make the pesto according to my simple vegan pesto recipe. Then make the courgette and pea soup as detailed in the original recipe outlined below, but this time don’t roast the courgettes but place them in with the potatoes when creating the vegetable soup. Serve the soup with the pesto heaped on top with a generous helping of nutritional yeast.
- Spicy Courgette and potato soup – Omit the peas from the original recipe and double the quantities of potatoes used to 800g. After roasting the courgette add them in with the potatoes when making the base of the soup and toss in 1 teaspoon of cumin powder.
- Carrot and courgette soup – Substitute the peas from the original recipe for 500g of peeled and cubed carrots. Add in the courgette and carrot when cooking the potatoes and double the quantity of basil used to 40g.
Courgette and pea soup FAQs
What herbs go with courgette soup?
Many different herbs go with courgette soup. Herbs can help you elevate the flavour profile of this sometimes bland vegetable. In general lighter and more delicate herbs work better with courgette. Examples of these are things like basil, parsley and dill. Stronger more earth herbs like thyme, sage and rosemary tend to overpower courgette aren’t as advisable.
Can you freeze courgettes?
Yes. Frozen courgettes work very well for soups. Throw in a few frozen courgettes into some vegetable broth and blend into a delicious courgette soup.
How to cook courgettes?
Courgettes taste great when using high heat cooking techniques such as frying, roasting or grilling. Using high heat techniques like this will balance the watery body of the courgette with different texture caused from searing the skin. Colouration of the skin will also provide different notes of flavour.
How to prepare courgettes for roasting?
Preparing courgettes for roasting it very simple – slice the courgette into pieces about 1 1/2cm or 1/2 inch thick. This can be lengthways in long strips or sideways into thick circles. Slicing courgettes this thick will enable them to be roasted through quickly but also provide some blackening and colouration on the outside of the courgette during cooking. This imparts flavour and texture to the finished vegetable.
When to eat courgette and pea soup?
Courgettes are a incredibly easy to grow but hate the cold. They can be easily damaged and die in the frost in colder months. That’s why the British courgette growing season is from early summer to mid autumn. British courgettes are available from around June until October.
Peas can survive colder temperature and actually struggle during the hottest months in the summer. Hence why the British season for peas is from mid spring to early summer – around May until July. However, peas are widely available year round in their frozen form.
If you’re looking for substitutes for both of these vegetables outside their seasonal months try looking at some of the variants I suggested above.
Want more courgette and pea recipes?
I love both courgette and peas, I have load of great recipes on the site featuring these two mighty vegetables. Here’s a list of some of my favourite:
Spicy Roast Courgette and Pea Soup
This meal is around 92% less polluting than the average UK meal.
Eating this recipe will save around 2.70 KG CO2e per person.
That’s equivalent to the emissions produced driving 22.34 KM in a modern car.
How do I calculate this?Ingredients
Roast Courgette
- 1 kg Courgettes (chopped into 1cm thick circles)
- 1 Tablespoon Harissa Paste
- 4 Cloves Garlic (finely minced into a paste)
- 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher or Sea Salt
Pea Soup
- 400 g Potatoes (diced into 2cm cubes)
- 2 Cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 Medium Onion (finely diced)
- 1 Litre Vegetable Stock
- 500 g Frozen Peas
- 20 g Basil (roughly chopped)
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Instructions
Roast Courgette
- Preheat your oven to 200˚c (fan oven).
- In a small bowl mix together the 1 tablespoon of harissa paste, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt and 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Arrange your 1 kg of chopped courgette onto a large baking tray. Pour the harissa dressing over the top and toss the courgette in the sauce until all the pieces are evenly coated.
- Place the courgette into the oven and roast for 20 minutes until they are taking some colour and have softened.
Pea Soup
- Whilst your courgettes are roasting you can prepare the soup.
- Heat the 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Toss in the 1 diced onion and 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Fry the vegetables for around 2-3 minutes until the onion has softened.
- Add in the 400g cubed potato and 1 litre of vegetable stock. Bring the pan to the boil, then turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are nice and soft.
- Tip in the 500g of frozen peas and 20g of chopped basil. Stir the pan to break apart any clumped peas and cook for a further minute until the peas have de-thawed and are a nice bright green.
- Remove the pan from the heat and use a food blender or stick blender to blitz half the soup into a smooth sauce. After blending stir the pan contents so the blended half is nicely incorporated with the chunky half. Season to taste with salt and cracked black pepper. Leave warming on a very low heat until the roast courgettes are ready.
- Once the roast courgettes are done, divide the soup between 4 even sized bowls. Spoon a helping of roast courgette over the top of each and finish with any leftover chopped basil.