Spring vegetable minestrone with langoustines

Name: Spring vegetable minestrone with langoustines
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 1 tbsp chopped parsley; 2 tbsp cooked risotto rice or soup pasta (optional); 100 g shelled peas; 60 g French beans, cut into 5 mm pieces; 150 g shelled broad beans; 1 small leek, trimmed, cut into rough 1 cm dice and well rinsed; 1 bay leaf; a few sprigs of thyme; 1.5 litres vegetable stock (or Marigold bouillon powder or a good-quality vegetable stock cube dissolved in that amount of hot water); salt and freshly ground black pepper; 16 small live langoustines

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Fish etc.

By Mark Hix

Published 2004

About

Spring is the best time for those tender little peas and beans, and langoustine tails complement them beautifully, not to mention producing the perfect colour contrast.

Ingredients

16 small live langoustines
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1.5 litres vegetable stock (or Mari

Fish course
Pescatarian
Spring
Soup
Gluten-free

Method

Bring to the boil a pan of water large enough to fit the langoustines. Stir in a good tablespoon of salt, then plunge in the langoustines, bring back to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and leave to cool for 6-7 minutes.
Remove the heads and shells and put the tails in the fridge. Wash the shells in cold water and put them into a saucepan wit