Place a saucepan over medium-high heat and pour in the olive oil. Cook the bacon until crispy. Set aside. Add the onion to the same saucepan and cook until soft. Add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute. Add about three quarters of the peas and all of the stock. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to a low simmer for 15 minutes. Blitz the soup with a plunge blender until smooth. Now add the peas that you kept aside, break the bacon into pieces and add those and the butter. Gently simmer the soup for 5 minutes. Serve with bacon and cheese toasties.
This is a nutritious soup with lots of flavour and crowd appeal and is really easy to make. This recipe feeds 6 – 8 people.
45ml butter 2 large leeks, sliced 2 onions, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced 800g potato, diced (about 4 -5 large potatoes) 2 stock cubes (I use chicken but if you want to go vegetarian use vegetable cubes) 5ml salt 1,2ml black pepper 1,2 litre water 250ml cream
Preparing the leeks: Cut off the root ends and thick green parts. Cut the leeks in half lengthwise and rinse under cold running water. Pull the layers apart and check that there is no dirt left.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the sliced leeks, onion and garlic. Cook and stir until the leeks and onion are soft and completely wilted. This should take about 10 minutes. Add the potato, stock cubes, salt, pepper and water and bring the mixture to the boil. Lower the heat, cover with a lid and cook gently for 25 minutes until the potato is very soft. Purée the mixture with a stick blender until completely smooth. Now add the cream and stir on a low heat for about 5 minutes. Serve the soup piping hot, sprinkled with croutons.
Making croutons: Preheat your oven to 180℃. Cut 4 slices from a day-old bread and slice off the crusts on all four sides. Cube the bread and spread it out on a baking tray. Drizzle the cubes with olive oil and give the bread cubes a mix with your hands. Bake for 5 minutes, shaking the baking sheet halfway through the cooking time, to spread and turn the cubes. Take the croutons from the oven and lightly sprinkle with salt.
My Whisk and I 