Broad bean soup with horseradish cream

Broad bean season is well underway now and I've been picking big baskets of them at my little allotment plot - and then suddenly my plants all got rust and production of new pods ground to a halt almost overnight, thanks to the hot, very dry weather we've had. The joys of gardening! Because I was picking far more than I could use each time, though, I'd started freezing the excess and I've still got quite a good supply of them stashed away, thankfully.

My friends Alex and Jeff came to dinner last night and this lovely soup, which I served as a starter, got a big thumbs-up from them. It's got a very delicate taste that contrasts really nicely with the kick from the horseradish cream. I always serve it in little coffee cups because otherwise I think it fills you up too much before the main course, but you could of course serve it in full-size bowls if you prefer.

I served two of my lovely (and super-easy) Parmesan Biscuits alongside each cup of soup. The recipe for them is here:
https://a-cooks-plot.blogspot.com/2018/08/parmesan-biscuits.html


Broad bean soup with horseradish cream

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
750g broad beans (fresh or frozen)
Enough chicken or vegetable stock to just cover the beans
1 tbsp dijon mustard
8 tbsp reduced-fat creme fraiche
2 tbsp hot horseradish (from a jar)
Mint leaves, to garnish

Fry the onion and garlic until translucent. Meanwhile, simmer the broad beans in the stock until just tender (about 4 mins, plus a couple of mins longer if they're frozen). Allow to cool a little then lift out of the stock with a slotted spoon (reserve the stock) and put the beans into a smoothie maker if you want a velvety consistency, or a hand blender jug if you prefer the soup to be a little chunky (which I do).

Whizz until blended then add a little stock, blend agin and repeat until you have the consistency you'd like.

Stir in the mustard and season well. Mix the creme fraiche with the horseradish and stir half of this into the soup. Reheat if necessary and spoon into 8 coffee cups. Top each with a teaspoon of the remaining horseradish cream and garnish with a mint leaf.


Serves 8 in coffee cups as a starter, or 4 in soup bowls

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