Quick Sweet Pea Soup
Homemade pea soup is less than 30 minutes away, with canned sweet peas, bagged spinach and chicken broth as time savers. Blending early in the preparation so the soup purees all at once in only one batch, keeps it simple too.
2 Tbsp. butter or vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 cans (15 oz. each) Del Monte® Sweet Peas, drained
2 cups baby spinach
4 tsp. fresh lemon juice
4 tsp. fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried thyme
3 ½ cups chicken broth, divided
Optional:
¼ cup heavy cream, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
Garlic croutons
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook onion about 10 minutes or until lightly browned and soft, stirring frequently.
Blend onion, peas, spinach, lemon juice, thyme and 2 cups chicken broth in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Return to same saucepan. Stir in remaining broth. Gently heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in cream, if desired. Heat over low heat about 1 minute. DO NOT BOIL. Garnish with garlic croutons, if desired.
VARIATIONS: Prepare recipe as directed, except:
•For Minted Sweet Pea Soup, use ½ cup fresh mint leaves instead of thyme in Step 2.
•For Tuscan Pea Soup, add ½ cup fresh basil instead of thyme in Step 2. Garnish with Parmesan cheese with garlic croutons in Step 3.