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For the soup
2tbsp olive oil
- 7
spring onions, trimmed and chopped
- 1
granny smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
- 1 l
(2 pints) vegetable stock
- 300 g
frozen peas
- 375 g
watercress, roughly chopped
- 4 Tbsp.
fresh pesto
- 6 Tbsp.
single cream
Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
- Step 1
Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5. On a lightly dusted surface, roll out the pastry to a rectangle about 28 x 35.5cm (11 x 14in). Use a palette knife to spread the pesto over the pastry in a thin, even layer. Gently roll pastry up from one short end to the other. Wrap in cling film and chill in the freezer for 15min.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, gently heat oil. Fry onions with a pinch of salt for 5min until soft but not brown. Add apple for 2min more, then stock. Bring to boil, simmer for about 5min, adding peas for last 1min. Remove from heat.
- Step 3
Using a sharp serrated knife, slice pastry into 18 rolls about 1.5cm (2⁄3in) thick. Shape back into rounds. Transfer to 2 baking sheets lined with parchment. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 20min until golden, swapping sheets in the oven halfway through baking.
- Step 4
Meanwhile, bring another large pan of water to the boil and fill a large bowl with cold water and ice cubes. Reserve a few small cress leaves as a garnish. Plunge remainder of the watercress into boiling water for a few seconds to wilt, in batches if necessary. Scoop out with a slotted spoon; put straight into iced water. Drain, squeeze out excess water and add to the pea mixture along with the pesto. Blend until smooth (in batches if necessary). Return to pan, reheat and season to taste.
- Step 5
Divide among 6 heated bowls. Swirl 1tbsp single cream over each, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with remaining cress. Serve with pinwheels.
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Serving tip
Soup can be made up to 3 days ahead. Make up to end of step 4, cool and chill or freeze. Reheat and complete recipe to serve. If made ahead, soup will lose its bright colour. Pinwheels can be made a day ahead, stored in an airtight container and warmed for 5min in an oven preheated to 170°C (150°C fan) mark.
If cooking for vegetarians, make sure you use pesto made with vegetarian cheese.
Plunging the watercress into boiling water and then refreshing it in ice-cold water is the secret to keeping this watercress and pesto soup's bright green colour.
Per Serving:
- Calories: 272
- Fibre: 6 g
- Total carbs: 13 g
- Sugars: 4 g
- Total fat: 19 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Protein: 10 g
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
