Pea & Bacon Soup

It's awfully cold out there isn't it? perfect weather for soup then - and this one is fantastically warming and cheap to make during these tight months. We all know peas and bacon go perfectly together, so combining them in a soup with chilli and coriander works a treat. Here's a more than simple recipe to make a big batch of this delicious soup.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (roughly) frozen peas
• 3 rashers of smoked bacon, sliced roughly
• 1 x medium onion, chopped roughly
• 2 x garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 x chilli, chopped
• handful of coriander
• 600ml vegetable stock
• 1 x teaspoon of olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Pop a non-stick pot on a medium to high heat, add the olive oil and allow to heat up. Once hot, add the bacon and allow to brown - picking up flavour and caramelisation on the way. 
2. Once the bacon is cooked and getting crispy, add the onions, garlic and chilli and allow them to soften - about 10 minutes of cooking. Add the freshly ground black pepper (as much as you enjoy) but do not add any salt - there's plenty in the bacon and the soon to be added vegetable stock. 
3. Add the frozen peas and coriander, stir thoroughly and allow to warm up for about a minute. Add the stock and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes, letting all the flavours to get to know each other. Once ready, get a hand blender and blend until smooth (or whatever texture you fancy). 
4. Serve immediately with homemade bread or store in an air tight container. It'll keep for 3-4 days for you to dip into whenever you want. 

Once you take a sip of this soup after being out in the cold you'll warm up immediately. The smoky flavour coming from the bacon, with a slight spice from the fresh chilli creates quite a complex flavour for a soup with perfect cockle-warming remedies. It's delicious, healthy (quite) and cheap to make. Also, it goes perfectly with some homemade bread - and it just so happens I have recipes for a sesame & chia seed loaf and wholemeal carrot rolls  on my blog (so have a read of them too). If you want to step this recipe up a notch, use pancetta instead of bacon - or possibly use some homemade chicken stock for a more meaty flavour. Give it a go, and let me know what you think.