Frozen peas are seriously one of the best pantry (or freezer) ingredients. I love that they don’t require any prep and can actually taste better than fresh peas.
This is a great pantry recipe to have up your sleeve. It’s perfect for nights when you need dinner to be on the table in 10 minutes or less.
Pea & Pesto Soup
Instructions
- Bring 2 1/2 cups water to the boil in a medium pot.
- Add peas and cook for 5 minutes, or until the peas are hot and tender.
- Puree with a stick blender. Stir in a little pesto, taste and add more if desired. Season. Serve.
Variations
vegan / dairy-free – either replace the pesto with a large handful of torn basil leaves or use a vegan pesto like this Sicilian nut pesto.
no pesto? – the peas on their own make a really lovely pure soup. Or add in a few handfuls of grated parmesan.
pesto-lovers – if you are using good quality home made pesto, you might like to serve with a big dollop of pesto on top.
richer – add in a few tablespoon of butter when pureeing the soup.
carnivore – simmer sliced chicken breast, sliced chorizo (or other sausage) or pork fillet in the soup until just cooked. Fish will also work.
carb lovers / more substantial – add cooked short pasta or serve with crusty bread and butter.
more substantial (low carb) – add some roast almonds or pinenuts before serving.
more veg – add snow peas, sugarsnap peas.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
frozen peas will keep for months.
pesto – unsealed jar will keep in the pantry for months. opened jars will keep in the fridge for weeks or longer but can be frozen.
Problem Solving Guide
too watery – this isn’t a super thick soup. Feel free to decrease the amount of water to 2 cups and serve in smaller bowls. If the deed is already done, try stirring in some more almond meal or some grated parmesan.
too bland – season more generously with salt & lemon. A little parmesan can help too.
Prep Ahead
Make soup as per recipe. Refrigerate for up to a week or freeze. To serve bring back to a simmer.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
My first from pantry meal list, it was unbelievably easy and quick to put together. We made the tomato pesto to add and love having that for leftovers too. My Utah guy said, “I like this Jules.” We’ll buy frozen peas for more than booboos from now on.
I like your Utah guy Gay 🙂
Always good to have peas in the freezer!
This was delicious! Had it for lunch today with warm pumpkin seed rolls from the bakery. Lovely clean flavours with the extra kick from the pesto. I made an extra batch as you suggested in the meal planning module. Thank you, Jules, for this lovely recipe. So simple, yet so delicious. That’s why I love your recipes!
So glad you liked it Amrita!
Jx
To give the soup more depth I added chicken stock in place of the water. I also added carrots and onions. It is tasty. I feel like it needed to sit overnight for the flavors to blend better. Easy and quick to make.
Interesting to hear how you found the soup with stock Dena…
I’ve only ever made it with water to keep the flavours really fresh and simple. I love onion and carrots in soup but the do take a long time to cook so I’m wondering if that’s why you felt it needed longer for the flavours to blend?
Jx