Did you know that January is National Soup Month?
What’s more, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of Clangers, so what better way to celebrate than with a delicious, hearty, healthy and thrifty green soup, inspired by the most famous soup connoisseur in the galaxy…the Soup Dragon?
The recipe has been developed by the UK’s No.1 food magazine and website BBC Good Food and contains spinach, potatoes, peas and fresh herbs to give a gorgeously green soup.
I’m sure many of you remember the Clangers, or perhaps you’re fans of the new series currently on CBeebies. The Clangers are a family of pink, long-nosed, inventive and inquisitive mouse-shaped creatures who live on a little blue planet, out in the starry stretches of space not far from our world.
They first hit our small screens 50 years ago, and one of the best-loved stars of the show was and continues to be the Soup Dragon, who lives underground in the volcanic-like Soup Wells, providing the soup that is the staple of the Clangers diet.
So, to kick off this year-long celebration of love, kindness and whistles, let’s make our healthy homage to the Soup Dragon!
Ingredients
- 1 bunch spring onions chopped
- 1 large potato peeled and chopped
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 250 g (8.8 oz) frozen peas
- 100 g (3.5 oz) fresh spinach
- 300 ml (10.1 floz) natural yogurt
- 10 g (0.4 oz) fresh mint to garnish
Equipment
Instructions
Put the spring onions, potato and garlic into a large pan.
Pour over the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 mins with a lid on or until the potato is soft enough to mash with the back of a spoon.
Add the peas and bring the mixture back up to a simmer. Scoop out around 4 tablespoons of the peas and set aside for the top.
Stir the spinach and
Carefully pour the whole mixture into a blender or use a stick blender to whizz it up until it’s very smooth. Season to taste with black pepper.
Ladle into bowls then add some of the reserved cooked peas and scatter the top with your favourite soft herbs or cress. Serve with crusty bread, if you like.
There you have it – a delicious fresh green soup!
Some flavour and dressing inspiration for your soup along with how best to store it.
What could you do differently with the flavours?
If you have any other leafy greens like kale or broccoli you can mix and match veg in the soup as much as you like. Even things like courgette or the outer leaves from broccoli and cabbage can work.
To decorate you could put a swirl of olive oil, a dollop of creme fraiche or a sprinkling of flaked almonds. Flaked almonds as super tasty, but become amazing if you put them in a dry frying pan and very lightly brown them over a medium heat – it only takes a few minutes and totally changes the flavour.
A few croutons on top is always a nice addition. You can buy them, but if you have any leftover bread knocking around you can make them in less than 15 minutes.
To make croutons add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to a frying pan and get it to a medium heat while you cut the bread into cubes (or just roughly tear into small pieces). Add to the pan and fry for a couple of minutes until the bread is starting to show a little colour. You can add some crushed garlic gloves or rosemary sprigs if you like. They’re pretty delicious at this stage but if you give them 10 minutes in a 160C oven they’re even better.
What goes well with this soup?
Some crusty bread and this Bramley apple and beetroot salad in a honey balsamic vinaigrette all work really well together.
Can I refrigerate my soup? Will it keep?
Yes – make sure to cool down any soup you don’t want to eat to room temperature. Store in an airtight container and get it into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking where it should last for 3 days.
Can soup be frozen?
This soup freezes well, just store in the freezer same way you would the fridge and it should keep for a month. Think ahead – if you might only want half of the portion you’re freezing then divide it out over two containers so you don’t have to defrost the whole thing.
To cook from frozen it’s easiest to use a microwave, or you can defrost the soup by leaving it in the fridge overnight.
Is this soup healthy?
With plenty of fresh veg this soup is not only tasty and easy to make it’s nice and healthy.
Is this soup recipe vegan?
If you use vegan yogurt and check the vegetable stock cube is vegan you’re good to go!
What soup should I try next?
Why not this fragrant Thai carrot and coconut soup, it’s super easy with an amazing colour.
Print this soup recipe
If you’d like to print this fresh green soup recipe to try later, just hit print on the recipe card below.
Easy fresh green soup
Ingredients
- 1 bunch spring onions chopped
- 1 large potato peeled and chopped
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 250 g (8.8 oz) frozen peas
- 100 g (3.5 oz) fresh spinach
- 300 ml (10.1 floz) natural yogurt
- 10 g (0.4 oz) fresh mint to garnish
Instructions
- Put the spring onions, potato and garlic into a large pan.
- Pour over the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 mins with a lid on or until the potato is soft enough to mash with the back of a spoon.
- Add the peas and bring the mixture back up to a simmer. Scoop out around 4 tablespoons of the peas and set aside for the top.
- Stir the spinach and yogurt into the pan.
- Carefully pour the whole mixture into a blender or use a stick blender to whizz it up until it’s very smooth. Season to taste with black pepper.
- Ladle into bowls then add some of the reserved cooked peas and scatter the top with the mint. Serve with crusty bread, if you like.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This is a commissioned post for the Clangers
Pin this green soup recipe for later
More soup recipes to try
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Lellalee says
I loved the Clangers as a child! I’ll definitely be making this soup for myself, it looks absolutely delicious and incredibly healthy! xxx
Phil Avery says
Love the connection to the Clangers, although it’s made me feel old hah!
A nice and simple recipe too, so no excuses, I’m going to make this over the weekend.,
Gorgeous pictures and a fabulous write up, thanks!
Emily Leary says
Thank you!
DAWN HULL says
There are some fab items but I really like the Let’s go Making Clangers T-Shirt. Thank you x