Quick Pea & Bacon Soup
Using frozen peas this easy but delicious soup can be on the table in less than thirty minutes.
With hints of smoky bacon and garlic, each bowl provides at least two of your daily veg portions.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 rashers rindless smoked streaky bacon, chopped small see Recipe Note #1
- 10 g butter
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt and black pepper
- 500 ml chicken stock see Recipe Note #2
- 200 g frozen peas
- 1 handful parsley tough stems removed
To serve (optional)
- single or double cream
- Parmesan cheese finely grated
- parsley finely chopped
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
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Put the olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat and add the bacon.
Cook until most of the fat has melted and the bacon's starting to crisp (3 min).
While that's happening, finely dice the onion and finely grate or chop the garlic.
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Turn down the heat to medium, add the butter, onion and garlic plus a little salt and a generous grind of black pepper.
Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are softening (8-10 min).
Meanwhile, finely chop the parsley.
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Add the stock to the pan along with the frozen peas and parsley.
Stir, put on the lid, bring to the boil then immediately turn down to a low-medium simmer.
Cook for 5 minutes.
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Take off the heat and use a stick blender to whizz to a smooth soup.
Taste and add more seasoning if needed.
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Serve the soup with any of the optional garnishes on each bowl.
Soup can be chilled and kept in the fridge for 2-3 days or frozen.
Recipe Notes
Note #1 If you're using a less fatty bacon (e.g. back bacon), you may need an additional teaspoon of oil to cook it in.
Note #2 If using stock cubes, dissolve 2 in 500ml of boiling water from a kettle. The recipe makes a light soup: if you prefer a thicker soup then use only 400ml of water.