Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

15ml/1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 small stick celery
350g/12oz potato, peeled and diced
600ml/1pt chicken or vegetable stock
3 (85g) bags watercress
150ml/¼pt milk
pinch of nutmeg
squeeze of lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and celery and sauté over a medium heat for 5 mins until pale golden. Stir in the potato and stock and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 10 mins or until the potato is tender.

Stir in the watercress, cover and cook for a further 5 mins or until the watercress is wilted. Transfer the soup to a food processor and blitz until smooth. Return the soup to the rinsed out pan add the milk, nutmeg, lemon juice and seasoning to taste. Gently reheat until piping hot and serve with crusty bread.

Cook’s note:

There are lots of variations to this lovely soup. For Fresh Pea and Watercress Soup, just substitute 400g of frozen peas for the potatoes. Also delete the celery, nutmeg and lemon juice. Serve with a sprig of mint.