If you like pureed soups but think it’s a big pain to make them yourself because all you have is a standard blender, you should consider buying an immersion blender. It’s basically a hand held blender that you can use to blend your soup right in your pot, not transferring of hot liquids or splattering soup all over your kitchen (I’ve done that more than once, I’m almost ashamed to admit). They’re pretty inexpensive (you can get a decent one for as little as 30 bucks) as far as kitchen tools go and also work well to get smooth sauces and salad dressings. You can serve this soup hot or cold, it’s delicious either way.
Did you know: Peas are one of the first vegetables to be harvested in the spring and right after harvesting are also one of the sweetest and most delicious. If you can get yourself some peas fairly soon after they’re picked, make this soup with them, you won’t be sorry.
Ingredients:
For the pea puree:
1 pound of green (“English”) peas, in the pod
Salt
Pinch of baking soda
1 tsp of unsalted butter
2 shallots, minced
1 1/4 cups vegetable or broth
For the whipped cream:
1/2 cup cold heavy cream
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
Garnishes (optional):
Baby sorrel leaves or snipped chives, chervil or dill
Edible flowers (violets, pansies, borage)
Thinly sliced cucumber
Directions:
Have ready a large bowl filled with ice water. While you shuck the peas, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add a pinch of baking soda. Add the peas. As soon as they are tender (3-4 minutes), drain them quickly and shock them in the ice water to stop the cooking. Drain them again, saving the ice water to cool down the broth if you like.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan and cook the minced shallots over low heat until just translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Season to taste, remove from heat and cool to room temperature. (You can do this quickly by cooling the broth in a metal bowl over the ice water reserved from the peas.)
Once the broth is cool, puree the peas and broth in a food processor until very smooth. You can refrigerate the mixture for 4-6 hours, or use it right away.
Just before serving, whip the heavy cream and lemon zest in large bowl with an eggbeater, or use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Gently fold in the pea puree with a large rubber spatula. Spoon into individual soup plates, garnish and serve.
(makes 8 servings)
