Watercress Soup Jamie Oliver Recipes

SUMMER PEA AND WATERCRESS SOUP

Steps:

• In summer, a light pea soup feels totally right - the watercress in this recipe adds a mustardy bite.
• Heat a large saucepan and pour in a little olive oil. Throw in the chopped onion and celery. Turn the heat down and cook very gently with the lid on for 10 minutes, or until the onion has softened, but not browned.
• Add the potato and stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the potato is cooked. Next, drop in the peas and watercress and simmer for a further 5 minutes until the peas are cooked.
• Remove the pan from the heat. Whiz the soup with a hand blender, or in a liquidizer, until smooth. Taste, then season with salt and pepper.
• Serve the soup with a spoonful of soured cream swirled in, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some crusty bread and butter.
• Tip: You can use frozen peas - just simmer them in the stock a couple of minutes

WATERCRESS SOUP

Steps:

• Season and garnish before serving: Add salt to taste and then add the black pepper. You can either stir the sour cream into the whole batch of soup, or serve a tablespoon of it in the center of each person's bowl.

WATERCRESS, ROCKET, SWEET PEAR, WALNUT AND PARMESAN SALAD

Steps:

• What a pukka combination, simple and classy. Don't try to make this when you feel like it, make it when you can buy perfect pears, otherwise it will taste naff. For 1 person I normally use around 1/2 a pear, 2 big handfuls of watercress and 2 big handfuls of rocket. If the pear skins are nice I just give them a wash, if not I remove them with a peeler. Then cut them in 1/2 and deseed. It doesn't really matter how you cut them up. Sometimes in big rough chunks, maybe sliced up or even grated. Then place into a bowl with the watercress and rocket. The pepperiness of the leaves works so well with the sweetness of the pear. Drizzle with good extra-virgin olive oil just to coat, a small squeeze of lemon juice (because the pear juice is slightly acidic but very tasty), and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss all this together and serve. Shave over Parmesan or pecornio, crumble your nuts over and tuck in. I love this salad with roasted meat or as a starter on its own.

PEA & WATERCRESS SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then gently fry the onion and garlic for 5 mins or until soft. Add the potato, stock and 500ml water, then simmer for 7 mins until the potato is just cooked.
• Scatter in the peas and watercress, stir, cover, then simmer for 3 mins. Add the mint leaves and blitz with a hand blender until smooth. Stir in the cream and season to taste. Serve ladled into bowls, scattered with more mint and some cracked black pepper.