Black-Eyed Pea and Bacon Soup
Servings: 10 people
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Parmesan Garlic Bacon substitute regular bacon and add 2 tablespoons minced garlic sauteed in the bacon grease
- 10 cups turkey stock substitute chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 pound black-eyed peas dried, soaked for 8 hours and drained
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 cups fresh parsley chopped
- ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat.
- Cut the bacon slices into 1-inch pieces and add to pot, stirring frequently until bacon is crispy.
- Remove the bacon to drain on a paper towel (I usually put a paper bag under the paper towel for extra absorption), and pour off the bacon grease from the pot. (If using minced garlic, reserve about a tablespoon of the grease for sautéing the garlic, for about one minute until light golden brown).
- Add to the pot the stock, black-eyed peas, bay leave, thyme, parsley, pepper and half of the cooked bacon pieces. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover.
- Cook for 1½ to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, or until the peas are tender. If you need to add more liquid as you go, an additional cup or two of stock should do the trick.
- Remove the bay leaves before serving. If you have a hand blender, you might want to give the soup a quick blend before serving, as I did.
- Serve the soup with the reserved bacon and fresh chopped parsley sprinkled on top.
- We also added a dollop of sour cream, just because.
Notes
You won’t need salt in this recipe because of the bacon