Pea Soup With Ricotta Dumplings - cooking recipe

Ingredients

100 ml milk
100 g ricotta cheese
125 g fine grain semolina
2 medium eggs
25 g butter
1 None onion, peeled and finely chopped
450 g frozen peas
1 litre vegetable stock
50 g Cheddar, grated
1 tbsp fresh chopped mint, plus extra to garnish
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley, plus extra to garnish
200 ml half fat creme fraiche
1 tsp lemon zest

Preparation

To make the dumplings, pour the milk into a pan, add 1/4 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the ricotta, then gradually stir in the semolina. Return the pan to low heat and stir constantly until the mixture forms one large dumpling. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and beat in 1 of the eggs. Leave to cool.
For the soup, heat the butter in a large pan and fry the onion for 6-7 mins until softened. Stir in the peas and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 mins.
In a bowl, mix the remaining egg, cheddar, mint and parsley and fold into the dumpling mixture. Using two teaspoons, shape the mixture into about 12 small oval dumplings. Slide the dumplings into a shallow pan of gently simmering water and cook for 5 mins.
Use an immersion blender to roughly puree the soup, then stir in the creme fraiche or sour cream and season to taste. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and add 3 dumplings to each bowl. Sprinkle with the extra chopped mint and parsley and lemon zest and serve immediately.