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Chilled Summer Garden Soup with Lemon and Mackerel

I created this refreshing soup when I had an abundance of beautiful vegetables in my garden, and the weather was very warm, so turning on the oven was not really on the agenda! This recipe features the vegetables I used, but please regard it just as a guide and feel free to use what you have in abundance, or available in your fridge. I use the whole pea pods in this recipe as they contain lots of juice and flavour. The mackerel – a little bit of luxury on the top – is simply cured, so ensure it is as fresh as possible, or use smoked mackerel instead.

SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 40 MINUTES

FOR THE SUMMER GARDEN SOUP

16 tender peas in their pods (tops and strings removed) (about 130g)

1 cucumber, skin on, roughly chopped (about 250g)

2 pickled gherkins (40g)

50ml gherkin pickling liquor

100g day-old sliced bread (preferably sourdough), torn

2 courgettes, grated (about 475g)

½ bunch of chives

½ bunch of dill

1 iceberg lettuce, cored and roughly chopped (about 250g)

100g Greek yoghurt

25ml olive oil

8 ice cubes

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE MACKEREL

grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

50ml gherkin pickling liquor

4 mackerel fillets, pin-boned and skin on, cut into 5mm-thick slices

1 Put the peas (including pods), cucumber, gherkins and gherkin pickle liquor in a blender or food processor and blitz until as smooth as possible. Pass through a fine sieve, retaining the liquid. Add the torn bread and leave for 10 minutes.

2 Place the liquid with the bread in the blender or food processor with the remaining ingredients for the soup and blitz until smooth. Season well.

3 For the mackerel, mix the lemon zest and juice into the pickling liquor. Season the mackerel with salt and place in a shallow dish. Pour over the liquid and leave for 10 minutes, then strain off the liquid.

4 Serve the soup in bowls with the mackerel on top.