Creamy Pea Soup

Tuesday I decided to use up the last of the 2 lbs of peas I bought last week, so I made pea soup.

God it was good.

This recipe I modified from epicurious.com... Dave loved it, I loved it, leftovers galore... now gone. We had this with leftover roast chicken. And for lunch yesterday with ham sandwiches on some yum olive bread from Publix.

My dad should be happy, because without the cream, this can be vegetarian. =)

INGREDIENTS

2 medium shallots, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 (4-oz) boiling potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 lb frozen baby peas (3 1/2 cups), thawed
1 cup heavy cream (optional)
1 tablespoon crème fraîche or sour cream, either one mixed with 1 teaspoon water

DIRECTIONS

Cook shallots in oil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add potato and salt and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add broth and simmer, covered, until potato is tender, about 15 minutes. Add peas and cream and simmer, uncovered, 2 minutes.

Purée in batches in a blender. Reheat soup and season to taste with salt.

Garnish soup with a drizzle of crème fraîche mixture. -My drizzle job was crap!