Reading through this week’s French Friday’s with Dorie recipe gave me pause. The ingredients for this pea soup included onions, peas, broth and romaine lettuce. Romaine lettuce? I’d never heard of such a thing, but Dorie explained that this is the soup version of classic French dish: peas with onions and lettuce. Who knew? So I followed the recipe…adding a clove of garlic as my own little tweak…and pureed this concoction till it was a lovely, vibrant shade of green. This soup can go from pot to bowl in about 15 minutes…love that! We left town unexpectedly after I made this soup, so I parked it in the freezer. I have a feeling Bill will give it a thumbs up (mums the word on the secret ingredient!)…I sampled a few spoonfuls and found it to be delicious and refreshing.
I garnished with a big dollop of creme fraiche plus some crispy prosciutto. Slices of very thin prosciutto were baked for just 5 minutes at 425º to create a crunchy, salty adornment. Crumbled bacon would be just as lovely. Don’t miss this taste of spring while winter’s chill is still biting. The recipe can be found here as it was published in Bon Appetit.
Ingredients
- Thinly sliced prosciutto
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425º. Line baking sheet with parchment and lay pieces of proscuitto side by side. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly before using to garnish soup.
- Recipe from Ina Garten
{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
Crispy prosciutto is the perfect garnish to this soup!
Romaine lettuce?! That is so interesting! This soup does look refreshing and tasty!
Lizzy , this soup looks refreshingly delish ! Love the addition of creme fraiche so as the tasty prosciutto .
What a gorgeous soup! I love the prosciutto you served with it – such a nice accompaniment. And you’ll be so happy to come home to this soup in your freezer.
Oh this looks wonderful Liz with your crispy proscuitto!!
Peas are one thing I cannot do. My husband however loves them. He is neglected. Maybe I could send him over for dinner?
The prosciutto is the perfect garnish for this soup! I liked it a lot, but added more peas and some arugula in the end after tasting it. Broth, whatever veg you have around, a blender and you have great soup. Can´t beat that. Have a great weekend Liz!
That is rather an unlikely ingredient, but I can see where it would add freshness to the soup. I love the colour Liz, and pairing it with crispie prosciutto is wonderful adding saltiness and texture. This is perfect timing as I’ve been fighting a rather persistent respiratory infection and I’m craving just soups (and the reason for my lack of commenting, I do hope you’ll excuse me).
I will be using that garnish in the future. I like the arugula idea as well.
Yeah, the lettuce thing was a new one on me too. But I put kale and spinach and other greens in soup – why not lettuce, I guess…
Beautifully done, Liz.
Your soup is beautiful Liz, and it reminds me that I haven’t had pea soup in too long…I need to make some! Hope you have a wonderful weekend
!
This certainly was an interesting one, and better than I expected. Lovely job on this one, Liz!
I love crispy bacon, but have never thought of Crispy Prosciutto! Shall try making this next time. Have a good weekend, Liz!
Love the garnish. I can try this tomorrow cos have all the ingredients. Nice photo Lizzy.
What a beautiful looking soup!!! Spring really is only 1 month away and this soup is a wonderful segway to the coming season!
I heard of peas and romaine lettuce going really well together, but not in a pea soup before. Crispy prosciutto on the other hand and peas are perfect together!
What a great, quick soup! The color is lovely, and the romaine must give it a good, fresh flavor. I want this for lunch today.
The lettuce through me too! It was good though and crispy prosciutto is a great idea!
Liz, I agree with the others who think the crispy prosciutto is the real winner here. What a great idea and a beautiful photo. I am also wondering if the prosciutto didn’t prop the dollop of creme fraiche up a bit. I added a “rather large” dollop to my soup and it sunk! What’s up with that? Admittedly, I strained it to a clear broth and that may have been the problem. I added prosciutto but cut it into bits. Yours looks divine. I’ve been playing catch-up the past week or so (not doing very well at that) but will soon be back to catching up on your interesting and delicious-looking Posts.
Loved how quick this was to make! I like your idea of the prosciutto. Have a great weekend.
This soup was delicious. I was a little hesitant on the lettuce myself. Love the prosciutto garnish.
Your soup is a pretty green – I used some canned peas in the mix so it looks like my Mum’s Tupperware in colour, but it tastes good!
Lizzy, you can even make pea soup look elegant and vibrant. I made split pea soup once and it looked like a bowl of swamp. This looks like a bowl of spring. Love the dollop of creme fraiche and the prosciutto.
Have a lovely weekend!!
Hi Liz, I love French Fridays with Dorie! I go from one blog to another “eating” with my eyes, and enjoying everyone’s creations. And nothing can beat prosciutto!
Great looking soup, Liz. I can’t wait to try your crispy prosciuitto. So much easier than frying up bacon slices.
Love the idea of crispy prosciutto and the clove. Looks terrific!
I love the idea of a proscuitto crisp as garnish! Lovely photo!
Liz, Such a pretty presentation! Love the proscuitto crisp…such a lovely garnish! Have a great weekend!
Lettuce, who knew! I love the floor and your adornments are perfect.
Mmm your soup looks lovely for a good winters day my friend
Cheers
CCU
Mmmm… Fancy bacon. I think that stuff would go well with almost any soup.
I love how you say you ‘parked’ it in the freezer. This is a beautiful looking soup. The colour is gorgeous and yes, I have heard of lettuce being used in some soups. xx
Will wonders never cease? Lettuce in soup? Still, if Bon Appetit AND Liz Berg recommend this beauty, I am making this sure-fire winner for my husband.(Split Pea Soup is his favorite.) I am very encouraged by your report, too, that prep and cook time are minimal.
I remember when Giada on Food Network made a soup with romaine, I thought that was so interesting. Your soup looks gorgeous and delicious….especially with prosciutto!!! Hugs, Terra
You soup looks great. I also added minced garlic to mine and we really enjoyed it. I hope Bill does as well. Have a great weekend!
Io sono romana… la lattuga esiste!!! Una zuppa, fresca, profumata e gustosa. Leggera al punto giusto!
Liz,
this meal is the ultimate Minnesota comfort food! FABUlous! WOWWWww.
I would have thought the same thing about the romaine. But, this soup looks absolutely delicious and it reminds me spring is around the corner!
Love that vibrant green color! Never heard of romaine lettuce before! I’m definitely intrigued! Love the dollop of creme fraiche in it! YUM!
Love the color. And like that you’re not stingy with the creme fraiche or the prosciutto.
LL
I don’t know why but I always like green color soup.
When I am at work and have nothing from home to eat for lunch, I go to the nearby supermarket and buy prosciutto and mozzarella. There is something about prosciutto that feels so right, and I can imagine it would be so right with this soup too.
Oh this soup and that prosciutto look delish! Going to have to pin this for later!
Yours is such a beautiful colour! The prosciutto looks good – we skipped it this time, but we didn’t skip the sour cream.
I’m so happy to hear that I wasn’t the only one who did a double take at the thought of adding lettuce to soup! I thought maybe this was an old hat trick for others that I was just learning.
Pea soup is one of my faves. I’m sure Bill will like it, special ingredient and all.
What a pleasure to see such a vibrant spring colour! The presence of the salad is intriguing indeed.
Love this French version of this creamy and delicious soup! BTW, Lizzy…your blog is not updating, it’s still stuck on Jan. 2nd. on my side-bar on my blog!
Liz, what a wonderful idea to prepare crispy prosciutto slices, they look very pretty with your nice pea soup and I and I know that they are very tasty. It really was a nice, easy and delicious recipe and it is good to see that so many of us liked the creamy spring-colored soup quite a bit.
Sorry for the late comment – we had too much fun traipsing around to see Ina Garten and I ended up coming down with a cold
Good thing I had all this fabulous soup to enjoy. I will be making this one again and again !!