Spring soup with egg, tapenade and goats cheese

• Serves 4

• Preparation time:

• Cooking time:

Ingredients

1 large (150g) brown onion, chopped
1 Tbsp butter
300g potato, peeled and chopped
1 litre vegetable stock
1 head broccoli
2 medium (300g) zucchini
water, extra
½ bunch basil
¼ bunch mint
½ bunch watercress

4 free range eggs
1 Tbsp vinegar

2 Tbsp black olive tapenade
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp soft goats cheese
½ lemon, juiced
water, to loosen

salt and pepper, to taste

Method

In a large pot melt the butter on medium-low heat and cook onions with a pinch of salt until soft and translucent (about 5-10 minutes).

Add the stock and peeled and chopped potato.

To poach the eggs, bring a separate pot of water to the simmer along with a generous amount of salt and the vinegar.
Crack the eggs, one at a time into a small teacup and gently drop the egg into the water. Once cooked, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

To make the olive garnish, mix together the olive tapenade and some olive oil to get a looser consistency. For the goats cheese garnish, mix the goats cheese with the lemon juice and just enough water to loosen it up.

Once the potatoes have softened, roughly chop zucchini and broccoli (stem and all) and place in the pot. Top with some extra water until just covered.

Simmer for 3 minutes with the lid on, until just cooked through. Remove from heat and add basil, mint and watercress.

Blend in batches using a blender, making sure you cover the blender with a tea towel, and re-stir the batches to distribute the flavours evenly.

To serve, pour soup into large bowls, top with a poached egg, some olive tapenade and goats cheese.

Notes