Ever since Mimi Thorisson was a young girl, she’s been passionate about food. She spent her childhood living in Hong Kong and during holidays, she would head to her French grandmother’s house in the South of France, eating and savoring local dishes all the while.
After Mimi’s early career in television and media, she settled down in Paris with her photographer husband, but their burgeoning family led to a move to Médoc, in the countryside north of Bordeaux. The agricultural setting taught her to source local produce and proteins and she began writing a food blog, Manger, in 2010. Her first cookbook, A Kitchen in France, came out in 2014.
On warm days, it feels so luxurious to have a chilled vegetable soup. I probably make gazpacho most often—every other day, in fact—but this pea soup is a beautiful alternative. If I have stale bread, I like to quickly make croutons with some olive oil and rosemary, but most often I just serve it with a fresh baguette. As is the case with gazpacho, I think it makes a world of difference to have just a hint of garlic cream and oil sprinkled over the soup.
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SERVES 6
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1⅓ pounds/600 g peas in the pod, shelled
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, plus 1 garlic clove, minced
6 cups/1.5 liters chicken or vegetable stock
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup/120 ml heavy cream
6 slices good-quality bacon
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
HEAT 1 TABLESPOON of the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the peas, potatoes, onion, and sliced garlic and cook for 4 minutes. Add the stock, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
Working in batches, purée the soup in a blender until smooth. Pour the soup into a large bowl and allow to cool, then cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic and the cream and whisk together for 10 seconds. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Cook the bacon in a large sauté pan over medium heat until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.
Just before serving the soup, pass the garlic cream through a sieve, pressing on the garlic; discard the garlic. Serve the soup drizzled with the garlic cream and a dash of olive oil and topped with the bacon slices.
