This week’s recipe is inspired by our upcoming April in Paris cooking class. You can see all our upcoming classes and register for a class here, or view more recipes.
Sweet Pea Soup w/ Bacon Lardons and Crème Fraiche
By Chef Steffani Adaska, Director – Taste of Mountains Cooking School
Serves: 6
A heavenly chilled Spring Soup made with garden fresh sweet peas, leeks, bacon drippings, fresh rosemary, vegetable broth and a touch of cream, garnished with Bacon Lardons & Crème Fraiche.
6 slices of thick bacon, sliced into 1” lardons
2 medium leeks, white and tender green only, cleaned & thoroughly, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
5 cups vegetable stock or low-sodium broth
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, thinly sliced
2 pounds, fresh peas, shelled (or two 10-ounce boxes frozen baby peas)
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 Cup crème fraiche
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, sliced thinly
1. In a medium stockpot over medium-high heat, render bacon until browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towel lined plate. Reserve for later.
2. Pour off all but 2 Tablespoons of bacon fat. Reduce heat to medium-low.
3. Add the leeks, garlic and rosemary sprig over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened (do not brown), about 6-7 minutes. Add vegetable broth and season with salt and pepper. Simmer about 15 minutes to marry flavors. Remove rosemary sprig.
4. Add the sugar snaps and the fresh (or frozen baby) peas, cook 3 minutes.
Remove to a blender and puree until smooth. Strain. Cool soup in a large bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water to cool. Add heavy cream.
1. Once soup is chilled, taste for seasoning. Add more salt or pepper if needed.
2. In a small bowl, mix crème fraiche with minced shallot. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Ladle chilled soup into chilled bowls. Add a dollup of crème fraiche mixture to soup. Garnish with parsley and reserved bacon lardons. Serve.
Chef’s Note: The soup can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
