Easy Homemade Soup Recipes ~ Roasted Garlic and Pea Soup

This is one of the easiest homemade simplest homemade soup recipes to make ~ and once the garlic is roasted it's also very quick ~ less than 20 mins from beginning to end.

If you've never used roasted garlic don't let the fact that it's garlic put you off. Roasted garlic is about as far from raw garlic as you can get. Whereas raw garlic is strong, harsh and very 'in your face', roasted garlic is sweet, soft and subtle.

Anyway ~ on with the recipe

Serves 4:

There are 2 versions of this soup - the luxury version and the ultra healthy one, it's the same method just slightly different ingredients, both of which are listed below.

1 large white onion

50g butter (luxury version only)

1ltr vegetable stock (see below for instruction on easy homemade vegetable stock)

Roasted garlic cloves ~ 1 large or 2 small per portion i.e. 4 large for this recipe

450g frozen peas

150ml double cream (luxury version only)

salt and pepper to taste.

Roasting the Garlic:

 To roast the garlic wrap a whole head (bulb) in foil and place in the oven for around 40mins - 1hr at approx 180C / 160C fan / 356F / Gas Mark 4 until the garlic is soft and can be squeezed out of the cloves by applying gentle pressure to one end.

To make the Soup:

1. Roughly chop the onion and gently sweat it in the butter over a low heat until it is soft and translucent (Note: you are not trying to fry the onion just soften it) - for the healthy version replace the butter with a few tablespoons of the veg stock and let the onion soften in that.

2. Once the onion is soft add the frozen peas and stir to coat them in the onion / butter mix. for a minute.

3. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer for approx 8 mins.

4. Add the roasted garlic cloves allowing 1 - 2 per portion

5. Liquidise  / puree the mixture until smooth using either a hand held blender or a liquidiser.

6. For the luxury version add the cream and stir in

7. For both versions add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Serve with fresh bread.

Keep a food safe plastic (or other) bag in the freezer and as you prepare meals put all your veg trimmings in it i.e. potato and carrot peelings, onion ends, broccoli stalks ~ anything and everything veggie really.

Once you have enough to half fill a saucepan cover it with water and simmer for approx 30 mins or until you have a richly coloured stock. Drain and keep the stock and chuck the veg peelings on your compost here or in the food recycling if you're lucky enough to have such a scheme.