Recipe Pea sprout & feta soup

[Hemulen]

Pea sprout & feta soup

Serves 2-3 | Preparation & cooking time 30 min

This soup - topped with oven-cooked asparagus and bacon - doesn’t resemble much its inspirer, Crème Ninon. The taste of mixed pea sprouts and feta resembles asparagus, so the cut stalks mainly add some crunch and texture, accompanied with tasty and salty bacon. The soup can be served chilled (with fresh toppings like minced sage or pea sprouts) in the summer.

Ingredients​

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✧ 500 g/1.1 lb green asparagus​

✧ 2-3 tablespoons ev olive oil (+ a sprinkle of salt & pepper)​

✧ 100 g/0.22 lb/3.5 oz thin slices of (lean) bacon​

✧ 200 g/0.44 lb/7 oz feta/feta type cheese​

✧ 80 g/2.8 oz/215 ml/0.9 cups pea sprouts​

✧ 100 ml/0.42 cups orange juice​

✧ 100-120 ml/0.4-0.5 cups dry sparkling wine/champagne​

✧ ~1-1.5 teaspoons salt​

✧ ~0.5 teaspoons black pepper​

✧ ~0.3-0.5 teaspoons Chipotle (smoked) Tabasco or chili sauce (or fresh chili of your liking)​

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/390-400 °F, gas mark 6, no fan.
2. Prepare the asparagus: rinse, trim the hard stems and peel the tough skin
3. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and arrange the asparagus stalks and bacon on top.
4. Sprinkle the asparagus lightly with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil
5. Roast the asparagus and bacon in the oven for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned/crispy.
6. Crumble the feta cheese, put it in a blender with the pea sprouts, orange juice, salt & pepper and Tabasco/chili and masticate into stiff puree.
7. Heat the puree in a pan or skillet/frying pan on medium heat or in the microwave and add the sparkling wine just before serving.
8. Cut the cooked asparagus into mouthfuls, tear the bacon (if needed) and top the soup with bits of bacon and asparagus.
9. Garnish/sprinkle with black pepper (and/or some spared pea sprouts)

 

[mjd]

I'm not a fan of bacon (I know, blasphemy ;-) but this looks appetizing. I've bookmarked it. Thanks for posting.

 

[Hemulen]

I'm not a fan of bacon (I know, blasphemy ;-) but this looks appetizing. I've bookmarked it. Thanks for posting.

Thanks. You can well substitute the bacon (and asparagus) with any savory topping like air-dried beef, salted peanuts or cheese shavings or just fresh herbs/pea sprouts and a pinch of kosher/finger salt.

Apropos, I didn't have time to visit one of the local ALKO stores (national liquor sales monopoly; grocery stores are only allowed to sell alcohol products up to 5.5%) so I used alcohol free sparkling wine from the nearest supermarket.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

It looks beautiful, and I like all the ingredients at play here, but how much soup does this make? There's no stock added, and the asparagus and bacon aren't part of the puree. What I see is about 1 cup of liquids (orange juice + sparkling wine), 1 cup of microgreens, and 7 ounces of feta. That's maybe 2 bowls?

 

[Hemulen]

It looks beautiful, and I like all the ingredients at play here, but how much soup does this make? There's no stock added, and the asparagus and bacon aren't part of the puree. What I see is about 1 cup of liquids (orange juice + sparkling wine), 1 cup of microgreens, and 7 ounces of feta. That's maybe 2 bowls?

Thanks, TLNG. As stated under the first pic in the recipe, I'd say this is for 2-3 eaters (main course for two, entry for three). Hubby and I ate a full bowl each. I didn't measure the puree but I'd say it was about 1.5-1.7 cups (7 oz/200 g feta -> ~0.7-0.8 cups puree + 0.9 cups/210 ml greens -> ~0.4-0.5 cups puree + 0.4 cups/100 ml orange juice = 1.5-1.7 cups/350-400 ml) so when the sparkling wine (0.4-0.5 cups/100-120 ml) is added that makes 1.9-2.2 cups/~450-520 ml in total.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I'd say this is for 2-3 eaters (main course for two, entry for three). Hubby and I ate a full bowl each.

Thank you. I can certainly see this being used as a main course. With the asparagus and bacon, it's such a hearty recipe.

 

[ElizabethB]

Hemulen Your soup is a thing of beauty.