Fiery Sweet Pea Soup

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the chopped leek, onion, jalapeno, a healthy pinch of salt and pepper, and sautee those vegetables until they are soft, roughly 7 minutes.
2. Stir in the seasonings (see notes)
3. Now add the garlic and peas and cook the vegetables for another minute.
4. Pour in the chicken broth and water then throw in the fresh thyme.
5. Turn the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Then turn down the heat to low, and simmer the soup for 20-30 minutes.
6. While the soup is simmering you can start the croutons. If you have a toaster, you can simply toast then butter the sliced bread. My toaster is in storage so I buttered my sliced bread then toasted them, on a cookie sheet, under the oven's broiler for roughly 3 minutes per side. Once the bread is toasted, set it aside, you'll add the burrata cheese later.
7. After 20-30 minutes you can add the fresh parsley and spinach to the soup. Stir the greens in the soup until they wilt. Once the greens are wilted you can use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it reaches the thickness you desire. You can also ladle the soup, in batches, into a blender if you don't own an immersion blender. If the soup is too thick, you can add additional water or broth to thin.
8. Once the soup is blended to your preference, turn off the heat and add the heavy cream. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Let the soup sit while you finish up the croutons.
9. Turn on the broiler. Smear burrata cheese over your toasted bread then transfer the bread to the oven for a couple of minutes or until the cheese is melty and bubbly.
10. Transfer the bread to a cutting board and cut the sliced bread into cubes.
11. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the croutons. You can also add additional toppings such as peas, fresh herbs, or parmesan cheese.
12. NOTES FOR THE RECIPE: You can get experimental and add seasonings to the soup that you enjoy. I added approx 1 teaspoon of the following seasonings: turmeric, ground cumin, red pepper flakes, celery salt, and smoked paprika. Remember if you make the burrata cheese croutons they will add additional salt to the recipe. Taste the soup WITH the croutons before adding additional salt at the end of the recipe. You can omit the jalapeno peppers if you're not into spicy food. However, even with two jalapeno peppers, I didn't consider this soup to be hot, at all.