A couple of tasty soups: 1 spicy, 1 slightly sweet

Its so very hot...... and when its so very hot I like to have food that is light and fresh but is also filling and of course holiday season is approaching so healthy is always a bonus. Both these recipes are also so easy I made both of them in about 30 minutes..... so here goes guys, enjoy!!!


Hot and Sour Prawn Soup

This soup is so fresh and fragrant, and its also surprisingly filling especially if you add noodles as I did.

You will need:

3tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar
500ml stock - i used chicken
1tbsp light soy sauce
thumb sized piece of ginger peeled and thinly sliced
2 red chilli's thinly sliced - you can use less as this does pack quite a punch
3 spring onions thinly sliced
300g raw prawns
Coriander, fresh lime and rice noodles - optional

So very simply put the vinegar, sugar, stock, soy sauce, ginger, onions and chilli's in a saucepan and very gently bring it to simmering point, allow to cook at the simmer for about 3 minutes then add the prawns and a few rice noodles.
I served this over some steamed pak choi and i added a sprinkle of coriander and a squeeze of lime juice. And there you have it the most simple and fragrant soup - its truly scrumptious!

Pea and Pesto Soup

This soup first came to my attention when Nigella did a version of it and when looking through the Internet there are many different versions. This however is my version and its fresh sweetness is both light but comforting on a summers evening.

I know I usually do a list of what you need but I'm terrible and not great at measurements with this soup as I just tend to lob everything in...... so gently fry a onion in some olive oil and butter add a couple of bay leaves and a small pack of frozen peas (about 400g) mix them in with the onion and bay leaves so they are coated. Then cover with stock (chicken is best) as you would when you cook peas in water! Leave to simmer for 10 - 15 minutes. Allow to cool for a bit then blend until smooth in your blender and then stir in a few tablespoons of pesto (fresh is best but to be honest stuff from a jar is fine). Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. I have also seen some recipes that serve this with fish fingers!! Which may sound a bit retro but i reckon it would be lush!!!