Spicy Broccoli And Pea Soup

Name: Spicy Broccoli And Pea Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 2 Heads Broccoli (broken into individual florets and then sliced into 1 cm thick pieces); 400 g Frozen Peas; 750 ml Vegetable Stock; 1 (400ml) Can Coconut Milk; 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce; 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil; 2 Sticks Lemon Grass (roughy chopped); 2 Green Chillies (roughly chopped); 4 Cloves Garlic (roughly chopped); 1 Medium Onion (roughly chopped); 20 g Fresh Coriander

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Spicy, fresh and utterly delicious – this broccoli and pea soup is a winner. This hot and fragrant soup is the perfect way to enjoy your brassicas. The fresh and sweet peas help mellow out the sometimes strong flavour of broccoli. Think of this soup as a blend of between a broth and a thai green curry. It’s filling and flavourful enough to have just on it’s own, but toss in some fried tofu and rice and it could easily pass for a sumptuous curry. It’s versatility is delightful!

Broccoli soup is something I can’t say I was all that fond of until I developed this recipe. I was used to slurping bland and watery broccoli broths that looked more brown than green. I loved the idea of broccoli soup – it’s a super easy way to use up the broccoli stork for fussy eaters who don’t like it on it’s own. So I set out to craft a vegan broccoli soup that packed tons of flavour.

With this pea and broccoli soup I think I’ve achieved just that. The quick curry paste helps impart tons of flavour to the broth in no time at all – that’s my kind of cooking. The end result is a soup that is as far from bland and boring as you can get – great success!

How to make broccoli and pea soup

Luckily this broccoli and pea soup is delightfully simple to make. I wanted a recipe that didn’t take ages to build tons of flavour. Follow these few simple rules and you’ll have a broccoli and pea soup that your mum would be proud of.

Quick curry paste from the gods

The flavour of this soup comes from the quick curry paste made at the start of the recipe. It’s by no means as complex or intricate as a real green curry paste but it’s got enough key components to impart huge flavour. By blitzing and cooking this curry paste in the base of the soup, you’ll set the soup up for success with the fragrant aromatics flavouring the broth right from the start.

The quick curry paste is super easy and requires that you just own some form of blender/food processor. If you don’t – you can still achieve the paste by chopping the ingredients very finely and crushing with the back of a knife or using a pestle and mortar.

The curry paste flavour comes from the green chillis, lemon grass and coriander. By blitzing these up with a sweet onion and garlic you’ll create a wonderful fusion of taste. You don’t have to use this paste just in this soup recipe – it works well for marinating roast veggies, flavouring curries and much more. I advise you give it a go!

Don’t overcook your peas, please

Please don’t overcook your peas. Frozen peas take only a few seconds to de-thaw and heat through. Past a few seconds of cooking the peas start to turn bitter and bland. If you want really lovely fresh and sweet peas in your soup cook them for only a few moments.

Not only will this pay dividends in terms of flavour, but it will also make your soup look a million times better. Overcooked peas turn a hideous grey colour which isn’t exactly inviting to eat. Properly cooking your peas will ensure the broth has a beautiful emerald green colour.

Chunky-smooth soups for the win

Are you a smooth soup or a chunky soup person? It’s difficult question I know, almost existential. What if I was to tell you that there is a third option – chunky-smooth. A best of both approach. Blend half the soup and return it to the pan with the chunky ingredients.

This method brings the benefits from both sides of camp. You get the stronger and more uniform flavour of the smooth soup now that the ingredients are blended into the broth. Additionally it helps thicken the soup so it’s not watery and thin like some chunky soups. Leaving half the soup unblended gives you the added texture and flavour bursts that is the obvious benefit of chunky soups.

So now you know – chunky, smooth? Just choose chunky-smooth.

Other broccoli and pea soup ideas using this recipe

You can use this broccoli and pea soup as a base for lots of other scrummy vegan soups.

Broccoli pea and pesto soup – Remove the curry paste from the soup. Cook the broccoli and peas in the stock mixture and then mix in a portion of pesto at the end.
Broccoli pea and spinach soup – Wilt 200g of spinach at the end of the recipe to add a irony and leafy dimension to the broccoli soup.
Pea and mint soup with curried roasted broccoli – Roast the chopped broccoli heads in a mixture of curry paste and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Cook the peas in the stock and add in 1 potato to thicken. Before blending wilt 20g of mint into the soup. Serve with the roast broccoli on top.
Broccoli and pea peasants soup – Follow the base recipe and add in 150g of pearl barley with the broccoli when cooking. Don’t blend the soup after adding the peas.

When is broccoli and pea soup in season?

Broccoli of some form is available throughout the year. Calabrese broccoli is widely available outside of the darkest of winter months. In early sprint you can find wide availability from purple sprouting broccoli. This soup works just as well with this seasonal start. Substitute 800g of purple sprouting broccoli for the 2 heads of calabrese and follow the recipe as stated.

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