For a vegetarian option, omit the crispy ham.

In the middle of a busy day I dropped in to have a quick coffee with my daughter in between appointments. And she surprised me with a lovely light lunch. We both love Ina Garten’s food www.barefootcontessa.com/ and she made me Spanish Pea Soup with Crispy Ham which she slightly changed from The Barefoot Contessa Book Foolproof http://www.barefootcontessa.com/cookbooks_details.aspx?CookbookID=33. She presented it beautifully, identical to Ina’s picture. She is already an even better cook than I am !

The soup makes a light and healthy lunch and serves 2.

You will need:

One small packet frozen peas
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
1 vegetable stock cube in 350 ml water
Some olive oil
Maldon Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 slices Jamon Serrano

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and cook the shallots until tender. Add the frozen peas and stock.
Season and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Purée with a hand held blender leaving it slightly course. Heat again and adjust seasoning.

Place the Jamon Serrano slices on a flat plate and microwave until crispy. Use to garnish and drizzle a few drops of olive oil before serving.

Believe me, it’s delicious !

And this is a photo of Ina’s soup from her book Foolproof.

A clear summer day, and how lucky we are !