Spanish Sweet Pea Soup

Silky, creamy, sweet pea soup...

To continue my shameless promotion of my upcoming cooking class at the Davis Food Co-op on Saturday, February 7th, today's Sunday Serving is a Spanish Sweet Pea Soup. This is not one of the dishes I'm making at the cooking class, but a beautiful, creamy, sweet soup that is easy to make and shows off some of the wonderfully tangy Spanish cheeses. It's also quite high in protein and fiber. If you want to reduce the fat content, simple omit the cheese crisp.

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Spanish Sweet Pea Soup
Adapted from a recipe in Food & Wine February 2005

Servings: 4

Time: 45 min active and total

Type: vegetarian, but could be made vegan by using a good vegan parmesan in the soup and for the crisps

Price: ~$9.50 total; <$2.50 per serving

Nutrition (per serving):

Calories: 278.9

Protein: 16.9g

Fat: 10g

Saturated fat: 3.9g

Cholesterol: 19.1mg

Sodium: 731.2mg

Carbohydrates: 32.2g

Fiber: 10.2g

1 Tbsp EVOO

1 medium onion, sliced thinly

1 tsp dried thyme

1/3 cup dry white wine or rice vinegar

3 cups vegetable broth

5 cups frozen peas

SnP, to taste

1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1/2 cup Roncal, Manchego, or other semi-aged sheep's milk cheese, grated

1/4 cup soy milk

1/3 cup Majorero, Iberico, or other mild, buttery, semi-aged goat's milk cheese, grated

Iberico (top left) and Manchego are tangy, semi-aged Spanish cheeses.

1. Heat the EVOO in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and thyme and cook about 5 minutes until the onion has softened. Raise the heat to medium and add the wine/vinegar and simmer about 3 minutes until liquid has reduced by half.

2. Add the broth, 4 cups of peas and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, about 8 minutes. Add the last cup of peas, simmer 1 minute and remove from heat. Stir in the parsley.

3. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Taste and season the soup with SnP. Put it back into the saucepan and keep warm over a low flame.

4. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Spread four 1 Tbsp mounds of the Roncal or Manchego and flatten slightly. Cook until the cheese is bubbly and set on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Be careful not to brown or burn the cheese. Slide the crisps out onto a paper towel lined plate to cool and firm up.

5. In a small bowl, heat the soy milks in the microwave about 30 seconds. Add the Majorero or Iberico and heat until just melted. Stir until blended.

6. To assemble the soup in a fancy-pants fashion, ladle into four bowls. Swirl in the Majorero/Iberico cream and top with the Roncal/Manchego crisp.