First Spring crop of sweet English peas turned into a light and creamy soup with smoky ham;    minus the calories as there is not cream or butter.

We hate canned peas.  We hate over cooked peas.  We LOVE fresh, crisp and sweet English peas.  I can always tell when Spring has officially arrived as I find English peas, favas and sweet strawberries in the market.  Laudalino and I both love split pea soup but at times it can get clumpy and gooey;  not when you use fresh sweet peas!  I had intentionally saved some of the ham just for this soup recipe.  As  we are big texture people, this particular recipe only purees half of the peas and the remainder is added along with the ham right before serving.

This recipe is simple and fast and the end result is very good!

Recipe: English Pea Soup

* serves 4

3 cups of fresh shelled English peas

1 cup of the pods from the peas – picked over, use the ones that are near perfect, remove the ends.

1 shallot, cut in half

1 clove of garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups of good chicken stock or veggie stock

kosher salt

fresh cracked pepper

1 cup ham, cubed

Heat olive oil add garlic, pods, and shallot.  Cook for about 3 minutes.  Add 2 cups of the fresh peas and the stock.  Season with salt and pepper.   Cook for 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and puree until smooth.  Return to pan, add the reminder of the peas and the ham.  Return to heat and warm for about 5 minutes.  Serve.  Eat.