A Summer Soup of Lettuce, Cucumber and Peas

When you are as ancient as I am and have endured every food scare, scam and whatever cult nutritional band-wagon is of the moment, eventually you tend to let it all waft over you without paying too much attention. ‘All the world’ wrote Hilaire Belloc ‘is torn and rent by varying views on nutriment’. Nothing has changed. When I first wrote the Cookery Course and broadcast 30 accompanying programmes, I was told at the end by the BBC that I would have to make my recipes healthier if I wanted to do any more. So when we first published the illustrated version butter was out at the time and we had to discreetly change everything to margarine in the baking section.Then, of course, margarine came under the cosh – hydrogenated vegetable oil was absolutely the worst thing – so back we all went to butter. The sagas go on: eggs are now acquitted, found utterly innocent of causing blocked arteries. Hooray! And I heard a radio programme where an eminent professor has stated that as yet it is unproven that organic foods are any better for you and that if the world went entirely organic most of the planet would starve. The professor even gave salt the green light, maintaining its harmfulness also has yet to be proved. I am firmly of the view that – wait for it – there is no such thing as unhealthy food. Unhealthy excess, certainly, but all food is good for you, all natural ingredients are healthy (again, if not taken in excess). An important point made on the programme by a fellow cookery writer was that a key issue was home cooking taught to children, where you can see and are free to decide how much salt or fat you are consuming and are therefore able to create a good sensible balance. Funny, that’s what I’ve been saying for 40 years in one way or another. So, long live home cooking! Soup is my subject in this recipe: an excess of home-grown cucumbers and what to do with them has brought forth a delightful fresh, green summer soup, which we have enjoyed served hot during a chillier snap, but it's equally good served ice cold.

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  Serves 4

Ingredients
12 oz (350 g) cucumber
1 small lettuce (approx 8 oz, 225 g in weight), washed and dried
6 oz (175 g) shelled peas
1 teaspoon butter
5 spring onions, chopped finely
1½ pints (850ml) vegetable stock
Approx. 2 tablespoons single cream
1 tablespoon fresh snipped chives
salt and freshly milled black pepper

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Method

First melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the chopped spring onions and let them cook gently for 5 minutes. Meanwhile chop the cucumber into chunks (no need to peel) and shred the lettuce.

After the five minutes is up add the lettuce, cucumber and shelled peas to the pan. Give it all a stir, then cover and leave the vegetables to sweat gently for 10 minutes.

Next pour in the stock, season with salt and pepper, give it another good stir and bring to the boil. Now reduce the heat to low, put the lid on and let it simmer gently for another 20 minutes. Leave it cool a little, then whiz it all in a blender (probably best in two batches).

Pour the soup into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave it in the fridge to get absolutely cold. When you’re ready to serve, check the seasoning, divide it among four chilled soup bowls, scatter the chives over each serving and swirl about a dessertspoon of cream into each one.

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