Sweet Pea Soup With Bacon Food

CREAMY SPLIT PEA SOUP WITH BACON

Steps:

• Rinse split peas in cold water, pick over and discard any discolored peas or small stones. Set aside.
• In a Dutch oven or 6-quart pan over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp .
• Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Refrigerate until later, for garnish.
• In the bacon drippings over medium heat, cook the onion and celery until tender and lightly browned, about 12 to 15 minutes.
• Add the split peas, water, potatoes, salt, pepper, bouillon, and bay leaf.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low.
• Cover and let simmer for 45 minutes, or until peas are soft. Stir occasionally.
• Discard bay leaf.
• Carefully purée the hot pea soup in batches , filling the blender no more than 1/3 to 1/2 full each time. Make sure cover is secure when blending the hot mixture.
• Pour blended mixture into a bowl while blending subsequent batches.
• Return the mixture to the Dutch oven and stir in the half-and-half.
• Cook over medium heat until hot, but do not boil.
• Taste and season with salt and pepper.
• Sprinkle the reserved bacon on top of the soup just before serving.

HEARTY SPLIT PEA SOUP WITH BACON

Steps:

• Dice bacon into 1/4-inch cubes. Place in a heavy 6-quart pot over medium-low heat. Cook until fat is rendered and translucent. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Cook until onion and garlic are soft and translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add split peas, stir to coat with fat, and add bay leaves and 2 quarts stock. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so soup simmers. Skim foam that rises to the surface for about 10 minutes, until no more appears. Add thyme leaves. Simmer uncovered about 1 hour or longer, until peas are soft and starting to fall apart. Add more stock, as needed.
• Remove soup from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Purée soup in a food processor in several batches, short of perfect smoothness; you should be able to spoon up some texture. Reheat soup, skimming off any foam. Stir from the bottom to mix well, then ladle into bowls and serve.

SPICY BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP WITH BACON

Steps:

• Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain bacon slices on paper towels and chop when cool enough to handle.
• Add tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, garlic, salt, and pepper to bacon drippings. Saute over medium-high heat until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
• Add water and bouillon; stir until bouillon cubes dissolve. Stir in peas and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Add Swiss cheese and simmer gently until cheese is melted, 3 to 5 minutes.

QUICK SWEET PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook onion about 10 minutes or until lightly browned and soft, stirring frequently.
• Blend onion, peas, spinach, lemon juice, thyme and 2 cups chicken broth in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Return to same saucepan. Stir in remaining broth. Gently heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in cream, if desired. Heat over low heat about 1 minute. DO NOT BOIL. Garnish with garlic croutons, if desired.

SPLIT PEA SOUP

Steps:

• If using bacon: In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, 12 to 13 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel. Once cool, crumble and set aside for garnish. If using ham hock: In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil, then brown the ham hock until golden, about 6 minutes. If making the soup vegetarian: In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the olive oil.
• Add the onion, leeks and garlic and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. (If the vegetables seem dry, add a little olive oil.) Stir in the carrots, paprika (if using), half the split peas, thyme and 8 cups stock or water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partly covered, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes until peas are tender.
• Mash the soup coarsely with a potato masher or give it a few quick blitzes with an immersion blender (watch out for the thyme sprigs). If you'd prefer a smoother soup, blitz until nearly smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 pound split peas and simmer about 1 hour, or until the peas are soft. If at any point the soup looks too thick, add more stock or water; if it looks too thin, remove the lid during the second simmer until it thickens. If using ham hocks, remove any meat from the bone, cut it into small cubes and stir into the soup. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with crumbled bacon, if using, and lemon wedges.

EASY SWEET PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Cook frozen peas in a saucepan with water; cover and cook until peas are very tender (but not overly wrinkly).
• Then drain and whir the peas in the blender or food processor until soup-like in texture, adding the chicken stock as necessary (you want a nice thick soup).
• Take whirred peas from blender and put back into the saucepan, adding the pinch sugar, nutmeg, and salt/pepper.
• Heat through.
• Swirl a little sour cream into each serving, and this dish looks and tastes great!
• Makes 3 to 4 servings.
• You can add a little bit of minced onion in, if you like, and a few sliced mushrooms are good, too.

SWEET PEA SOUP

Steps:

• In a soup pot, cook bacon until crispy, remove to paper towels to drain, and reserve for garnish. Add oil and flour to pot and cook for 3 minutes, stirring. Add leeks and cook 3 minutes. and add stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add peas and cook 5 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree soup in the pot; or pour soup into a food processor or blender, process until smooth and return to pot. Stir in cream and adjust season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into a warm tureen and serve garnished with and chives.

BLACK-EYED PEA AND BACON SOUP

Steps:

• Brown the bacon in a large pot over medium heat. Drain grease, and place onion in the pot. Cook and stir until tender. Pour in the water. Mix in the bouillon cubes until dissolved. Stir in black-eyed peas, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 45 minutes.
• Place the potatoes in the pot, and continue cooking 15 minutes, or until beans and potatoes are tender. Serve warm.