pea soup

As I write this, I have as background, 2 boys building a lego warship and tank, complete with conversation about ships and airplanes and other stuff important to 6 year old boys (poo figures prominently - why?). I'm trying to stiffle my giggles from time to time so they don't realize I'm listening.

Lego warship

Onward to the recipe. I've been trying to clear out my fridge and freezer as recently they both were full to bursting and it was beyond ridiculous. And in a few weeks (gasp!) it will be Christmas and I will need to stuff a whole lot of food into both so I've been on a kick to clear out both. I discovered 3 bags of frozen peas in the freezer - apparently 2 were so well hidden that I bought more thinking I was out. So this week I made pea soup. The recipe is from America's Test Kitchen. I've made it before, when I had people over for lunch and was going to make broccoli soup but mysteriously the broccoli bits I thought were in the freezer were not, and all I managed to find was peas, so made pea soup from the same recipe as the broccoli soup recipe.

It is simple and quick and just the thing for a cold, wet November evening with a loaf of herby, garlicy french bread and a salad.

Pea Soup (from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)

2 tbsps butter
1 onion, minced
salt
2 tbsp flour
4 c low-sodium vegetable stock
1 1/2 lbs frozen peas, pulsed in a food processor
1/3 c heavy cream
pepper

Melt the butter over medium high heat in a saucepan. Add the onion and a few pinches of salt and cook until the onion is soft. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Slowly stir in the stock, whisking until smooth. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the peas to the stock and simmer until tender, about 7-10 minutes. Puree the soup until smooth. Add the cream and salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.