James Nathan's Pea and White Truffle Soup with Parmesan Galettes
Serves: 4-6
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 3 minutes
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 250g (9oz) frozen peas or petit pois, plus 1 tsp for the galettes
- 450ml (15fl oz) hot vegetable stock
- a few thyme springs, leaves picked
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1-2 tbsp crème fraîche (optional)
- white truffle oil, to serve
For the galettes:
- 80g (3oz) Parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 2 slices Serrano ham
- 1 packet pea shoots
- small handful of mint tips (the very tiny new growth buds at the end of the stem) or 6 mint leaves
- viola flowers
Method
- Put the peas in a bowl, then pour over boiling water and leave to stand for about 5 minutes. Drain.
- Put the peas (setting aside 1 tsp for the galettes), stock, and thyme leaves in a blender and blend until smooth and combined, in batches if necessary. Add more stock if the soup is too thick. Season well with salt and pepper, and blend again.
- Make the Parmesan galettes. Heat a heavy-based non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and sprinkle 4 thin layers of Parmesan to make a galette wide enough for your serving cups. When the cheese starts to melt, wait about 2 minutes, until it turns golden and bubbly. Immediately remove from the heat, leave for about 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack.
- Finely shred the ham into strips. Scatter each galette with the reserved petit pois, viola petals, pea shoots and mint.
- To serve, stir the crème fraîche (if using) into the soup, use a hand-held blender to froth up the liquid, pour into serving bowls or cups, and spoon a head of froth over each. Add a few drops of truffle oil to each cup and top with a Parmesan galette balanced on each cup.
Recipe taken from Masterchef: The Classics with a Twist published by DK. Photo credit: David Loftus.