020 / 75 · Soups, beans and broths
Pea, Mint and Potato Soup
2 coarse pea and potato soup bowls, with 30 g/about 2 tbsp yogurt and 40 g/1½ oz soft bread per person · Active 18 min · Cook 22 min · Total 45 min
Print recipe · PDFPotato gives this green soup body, while mint supplies a clean finish. Cook the potato in stock and the frozen peas in a separate bowl so each gets its proper treatment. A masher makes a coarse soup with a few peas still visible; there is no need to lift a hot bowl into a blender. Cool yogurt is spooned over the portions at the table.
Give frozen peas their own cooking stage
Frozen vegetables are not always ready to eat. Choose a packet with microwave directions for a portion close to 200 g, including its water, stirring and standing steps. Cook them fully in the second bowl, then drain. The potato broth keeps its measured amount of liquid instead of becoming dependent on how much water a particular pea packet needs.
Choose coarse on purpose
Mash the potato thoroughly before the peas arrive. After adding them, press enough to make the broth green and thick while leaving some pea skins and whole peas. Mint should be finely chopped rather than left as decorative sprigs. A measured spoonful of yogurt on each bowl completes the flavor; it is not part of the hot storage batch.
Ingredients
- 180 g (6⅓ oz) peeled potato, cut into 1 cm/⅜ in cubes
- 50 g (1¾ oz) peeled onion, finely chopped
- 10 ml (2 tsp) olive oil
- 400 ml (about 1⅔ US cups) ready-to-use lower-sodium vegetable stock, divided
- 200 g (7 oz) frozen garden peas; choose a product with microwave directions for this portion and a full heating-and-standing process of about 6 minutes or less
- Water for the separate pea stage, in the exact amount directed by its package; drain after cooking, so this is not soup liquid
- 5 g washed fresh mint leaves (about 2 tbsp finely chopped), tough stems discarded
- 0.5 g fine salt, a small pinch, or omit if the stock is salty
- 0.3 g ground black pepper (about ⅛ tsp)
- 60 g (2 oz; about ¼ cup) plain pasteurized-milk yogurt, kept cold and divided into two 30 g portions
- 80 g (2¾ oz) soft whole-wheat bread, divided into two 40 g portions
Set out
1000 W microwave with turntable, Kitchen scale and measuring jug, Knife and cutting board, Spoon, Oven mitts, Two serving bowls, Microwave-safe bowl, at least 2 L/about 2⅛ US qt measured capacity, about 20 cm/8 in inside diameter and 9 cm/3½ in deep, Second microwave-safe bowl, at least 1 L/about 1 US qt measured capacity, about 16 cm/6¼ in inside diameter, Two microwave-safe vented covers, Potato masher, Sieve, Food thermometer, Small bowl for yogurt, Two side plates
Allergens
Milk, Wheat. Check labels and substitutions.
Make it
- Put the onion, oil and 30 ml/2 tbsp of the measured stock in the 2 L bowl. Cover with a vent. Microwave at 1000 W full power for 3 minutes, stirring halfway, until the onion softens.
- Add the potato, remaining 370 ml stock, salt and pepper. Stir and cover with the vent open. Heat at full power for 8–10 minutes, stopping every 3 minutes to stir and turn the potato through the broth. Continue in 1-minute bursts if necessary until the largest pieces crush easily. Keep this bowl covered with the vent open while the peas cook.
- Put the frozen peas in the separate 1 L bowl with their package-directed water. Follow the complete microwave process for the actual portion, including its stated power, cover, stirring and standing; do not simply thaw or warm them. The 45-minute plan reserves about 6 minutes for that process. If the packet specifies a longer process, follow it and extend the total. Drain the cooked peas in the sieve.
- Mash the potato thoroughly in its broth. Add the fully cooked, drained peas and mash some of them into the soup, leaving a little texture. Stir in the chopped mint. Cover with a vent and heat at 1000 W full power for 2–3 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until steaming throughout. Stand covered for 2 minutes, then stir.
- Divide all the hot soup equally between the two bowls. Spoon 30 g yogurt over each and serve with its 40 g soft bread portion. Add yogurt only to portions being eaten now, keeping any reserved soup and yogurt separate.
Use one oven in order
The potato bowl waits only while the pea stage is completed, then the assembled soup is heated again. There is no simultaneous two-bowl heating claim.
A spoon finish, not a swirl to store
Keep the measured yogurt cool until serving. The make-ahead soup is stored plain; mint is already part of the soup rather than an unmeasured garnish.
Ingredient labels
Bread contains wheat/gluten and may contain sesame or soy; stock may contain celery. The soy-yogurt variation contains soy. Check all actual labels.
A useful detail
The 45-minute plan allows 10 minutes of preparation, up to 16 minutes of onion, potato and final soup heating, a 6-minute allowance for the separate pea process, the final 2-minute stand and 7 minutes for draining, mashing and serving. One microwave heats the bowls sequentially. Follow a longer pea label process or extra potato bursts if needed; the schedule is a planning range, not a promise that every packet and oven finishes at the same time.
Another way
- Replace mint with 5 g/about 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil, folded in at the same stage. Its different aroma makes a useful summer variation; do not add extra herbs for illustration.
- Use 60 g/2 oz plain unsweetened soy yogurt instead of dairy yogurt. Soy becomes an allergen. Check that the selected yogurt is suitable for a cool spooned topping, and keep it refrigerated separately.
Keep it well
Refrigerate reserved soup without the yogurt topping in shallow portions within 2 hours, or within 1 hour above 90°F/32°C, at 40°F/4°C or below. Use within 3 days or an earlier stock or vegetable-package deadline; keep yogurt and bread separately under their label conditions. Reheat the soup under a vented cover with frequent stirs, stand 2 minutes and verify 165°F/74°C throughout. Add fresh measured yogurt only after the soup is portioned for immediate eating.