Pea and lovage soup

Pea and mint is, of course, the obvious choice for a spring soup, but pea and lovage is also quite a special combination. Lovage is one of those herbs that you have to use with caution or there's a danger that it will overpower the flavour of the peas. Apart from growing your own, you can buy lovage from some garden centres or order it in advance from a good greengrocer.

1 leek, roughly chopped and washed
A good knob of butter
1.2litres vegetable stock
450g (shelled weight) peas, fresh or frozen
8-10 sprigs of lovage
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Gently cook the leek in the butter for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft. Add the stock, season and simmer gently for 10-12 minutes. Add the peas and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the peas are tender (only a couple of minutes for frozen). Add the lovage, remove from the heat and blend in a liquidiser until smooth. Taste the soup and blend in more lovage to taste if necessary and strain through a sieve if you wish; some liquidisers do a better job than others. Serve hot or cold with a blob of crème fraiche or yoghurt if you want.