Spring Pea soup with Ham

For some reason, I used to find the idea of a pureed vegetable soup a little off-putting. Then I had a kid. Namely, I had a toddler and realized that when she won't eat regular veggies, she will eat them in soup, or even better as a dip for other things. Seriously, my child has been known to eat spoonfuls of ketchup when not watched carefully. I found this recipe as I usually find recipes - by chance.

I got a copy of the Williams-Sonoma catalog in the mail (I never actually buy anything, but it sure is fun to look) and was thumbing through it when I ran across this recipe. I sort of lightened it up with milk instead of heavy cream and substituted spinach for the mint (which I didn't have on hand), garlic for the shallots and diced leftover ham for the bacon.

The result:
The best part is the how the freshness of the peas combines with the rich ham. Like I've said before, you can't go wrong with pork. For the vegetarians out there, this would also really go well with a Parmesan crisp.