Categories: Soup- Stew- Chowder- Chili

Ingredients

• For the Soup:
• 1 oz. slab bacon, cut in half, or 1 or 2 slices
• 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 celery stalks, peeled, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 small onion, peeled, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 leek, white part only, washed, dried and thinly sliced
• 5 cups unsalted chicken stock
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1/2 lb. sugar-snap peas, thinly sliced
• 2 1/4 lbs. petite peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley (leaves only, about 1 cup of leaves)
• For the rosemary cream:
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 garlic clove, peeled, split and germ removed
• 5 slices bacon, finely diced
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

Directions

1. For the soup:

2. Heat a medium pot over medium heat. Add bacon. Brown very well, then pour off all the rendered fat. Remove bacon. Add the olive oil to the pot and warm it, then add the celery, onion, leek and little pepper. Lower the heat and cook the vegetables, stirring, until they soften but don’t color, about 15 minutes.
3. Pour in the chicken stock and toss in the bacon and a sprig of rosemary. Bring it to a boil. lower the heat and simmer the soup for 15 minutes. Spoon out and discard the bacon and rosemary. Pour the soup into the container of a blender and puree until smooth. (You may have to do this in batches.) Set the soup aside to cool.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Toss the sugar snap peas and snow peas into the pot and cook for 3 minutes. Add the petite peas and cook for another 3 minutes. Toss the parsley into the pot and cook everything a final minute. Pour peas int a strainer and run all the ingredients under cold water to cool them down quickly to set their colors; drain again.
5. Put the peas, parsley and a little of the soup into the container of a blender and whir until the vegetables are smooth. (You may have to add more of the soup to keep things moving in the container.) Add the remainder of the soup in batches, and whir until you have a smooth mixture. Push the soup through a fine mesh strainer to make certain it is smooth and free of small pieces of pea skin, then taste it for salt and pepper and adjust seasoning as needed. Pour the soup into a container and refrigerate until cold.

6. For the Cream:

7. Bring the cream, rosemary and garlic to a boil in a small pot, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, just until the cream thickens a little. Strain the cream, discarding the rosemary and garlic, season with salt and pepper and chill.
8. While the cream is cooling, brown and lightly crisp the bacon in a pan over medium heat, then drain it well between several layers of paper towels; crumble finely.

9. To Serve:

10. Ladle the soup into cold bowls and drizzle a bit of rosemary cream over each portion; top with sprinkling of bacon.

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