This is an incredible tasty soup. The white pepper gives this dish a big kick, you will find yourself full of energy afterwards. Green makes and tastes good. A great spring dish!

We added some homemade croutons to the soup to give it a bit of a crunch. Mmm

-enjoy-

INGREDIENTS (serves 6)

1½ tbsp olive oil
500g courgettes, halved lengthways and sliced into 0.5cm half moons
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
½ tsp white pepper
1 litre fresh chicken stock
300g maris piper potatoes, cut into even chunks
200g frozen peas
50g fresh basil, roughly chopped
90g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to scatter over
Crusty bread to serve

For the garnish

Crème fraîche
1 courgette, cut into strips/ribbons (we used a Y-shaped peeler), tossed in lemon juice to soften
Extra-virgin olive oil

METHOD

Heat the 1½ tbsp oil in a large pan over a medium heat and fry the courgettes, garlic and white pepper for 5 minutes until softened. Pour in the stock, bring to a simmer, add the potatoes and cook, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes until soft.
Add the peas and the basil, then simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add the parmesan and stir until melted. Allow to cool a little, then carefully transfer to a blender and whizz until smooth (or use a stick blender). Season to taste, then serve with a swirl of crème fraîche, courgette strips/ribbons, a drizzle of oil, extra parmesan and crusty bread.