Chilled Summer Lettuce, Lovage And Garden Pea Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 -5 medium spring onions, trimmed and chopped
butter or olive oil
1 large cos lettuce or 2 large butterhead lettuce
250 g fresh garden peas or 250 g frozen peas
1 liter vegetable stock
5 -6 leaves fresh lovage, leaves (plus 4 more to garnish)
salt and pepper
cream, for garnish (optional)

Preparation

Sweat the spring onions in the oil or butter until soft, then add the peas and lettuce. Pour over two-thirds of the stock, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 5 minutes, or until the peas are tender.
Remove from the heat and add the lovage leaves then blend the soup with a hand blender or in a liquidiser. Thin the soup to your preferred texture with the remaining stock. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place the soup in a container and chill in the fridge for at least 2 to 3 hours. Serve chilled with chopped lovage leaves and a swirl of cream.