Pea soup with parmesan croutons and poached egg

Tamara West

Pea soup

2 Tbsp	Olive oil
2	Onions, chopped
2 cloves	Garlic, chopped
2 rashers	Streaky bacon, diced (optional)
3 cups	Vegetable stock, or chicken stock
800 g	Frozen peas (Main)
3 Tbsp	Mint leaves, sliced
⅓ cup	Sour cream

Parmesan croutons and poached egg

6 slices	Sourdough bread, or ciabatta, torn into 2cm cubes
2 Tbsp	Olive oil
¼ cup	Parmesan cheese, finely grated
4	Free-range eggs
¼ cup	Sour cream, to serve

Directions

1. Heat oven to 200C.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Cook onion, garlic and bacon (if using) until onion is soft, 4-5 minutes. Add stock, peas and mint. Bring to the boil and simmer until peas are heated through, about 10 minutes.
3. While soup is cooking, make the parmesan croutons. Place bread cubes on an oven tray and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over grated parmesan. Toss together, season with salt and bake for 10 minutes or until golden and crispy.
4. Add sour cream to soup and blend with a stick blender or in a food processor, until soup is smooth (or leave it slightly chunky if you prefer). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. To poach eggs, bring a large frying pan filled with water to a gentle boil. Carefully crack in each egg and poach for 1-2 minutes or until whites are just set, but yolks are still slightly runny (or leave longer if you prefer a firmer yolk).
6. To serve, ladle soup into each bowl, dollop with a little sour cream, scatter over croutons, and place a poached egg in the centre of the soup.