Give Pea Soup a Chance
The weather is so sporadic at this time of year. Some nights are freezing while others are sweltering hot! The transition from Summer to Fall can alter your decisions when it comes to reaching for a hot tea or an iced tea.
This month is full of Jewish holidays! Jewish holidays means lots of family time and TONS of cooking! I like to have my soups pre-made a week or two in advance and store them in the freezer or fridge until they are ready to be used. The best soups for me are the versatile ones that can be served hot or cold. When the day actually comes to serve the soup I want it to fit the weather so it cools them down if they are hot or warms them up if they are shivering cold.
I was planning on serving this spring pea soup cold for a recent cooking demo I gave, but the weather outside that night ended up being pretty cool. For the comfort of my class participants, I served the soup hot and focused on the flexibility of the soups temperature.
The spring pea soup is sweet and refreshing. The Jack’s Gourmet “facon” and oven roasted tomatoes added a really nice savory and umami component to the soup. If you can’t find the facon (beef bacon), or even if you can, I recommend adding seared hot dogs or sausages cut at a bias. The hot dogs, sausages and facon makes this soup kid friendly trendy and elegant.
Spring Pea Soup with Crumbled Facon
Makes 8 Servings
8 Slices of Facon (Jack’s Gourmet)
1 TBS. Olive Oil
2 Celery Ribs, thinly sliced
1 Onion, thinly sliced
1 Leek, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced
5 C. Chicken or Vegetable Stock
2 Rosemary Sprigs, Fresh
3 – 10 oz Boxes Frozen Baby Peas
¼ C. Flat Leaf Parsley Leaves
16 Baby Tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
Opt: 2 Hot Dogs or Sausages, seared for garnish
Preheat oven to 400. In a medium soup pot, cook the bacon over moderate heat until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate and pour off the fat in the pot.
In the same pot, heat the olive oil. Add the celery, onion, leek and cook over moderately low
heat,. stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 7 minutes.
Add the stock and 4 slices of cooked bacon, 1 rosemary sprig and a pinch of salt and pepper. Simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes. discard the bacon and rosemary. Add to the soup the frozen peas desired consistency and cook for another minute. Using an immersion blender, puree soup till smooth.
Slice the baby tomatoes in half, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and spread on a baking sheet. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to darken. Ladle the pea soup into bowl and garnish with tomatoes. Crumble the remaining 4 slices of bacon into each bowl and serve.
Other Soups that can be served cold or hot:
Butternut Squash Soup
Tomato Basil Soup
Carrot Soup
Zucchini Soup
Sweet Corn Soup
White Bean Soup with Pesto
