R E C I P E S

Purée de Petits Pois (Green Pea Soup)

By Edward Behr

Soups of fresh, sweet green peas, cooked nearly like petits pois à la laitue but puréed and called purées, are very Parisian. Variations are made by adding one or two other ingredients: lettuce, chervil, cream, butter, croûtons, mint. Much better than old starchy peas in their pods are good frozen ones. Instead of thinning the purée to make soup, you can drain the peas and reduce their cooking liquid nearly to a glaze before adding it and butter to the thick purée. This goes well with braised meats served separately from the braising liquid or with it, if it has been reduced to a sauce. Shelling peas is tedious, but if you have either the patience, children to do the work, or an efficient home pea sheller (I’ve seen one), by all means increase the amounts. 

3 pounds (1.5 kg) peas in their pods to yield at least 1½ cups (175 gr) shelled peas — more mature pods may yield twice that amount

1 flavorful new butterhead lettuce, such as Tennis Ball

a dozen stems of parsley

a thick slice of 1- or 2-day-old white bread cut into ½- to ¾-inch (1- to 2-cm) cubes

2 tablespoons (30 gr) unsalted butter

½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream

salt

fresh chervil leaves for garnish, torn into individual leaflets, optional

Shell the peas. Discard the coarse outer leaves of the lettuce and wash the head carefully, making certain it is free of grit; slice the head in half vertically, through the stem. Simmer the lettuce and peas with the parsley, uncovered, in just enough unsalted water to cover, until the peas are soft, roughly 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and transfer the lettuce halves to a bowl. When they are cool enough to handle, squeeze the liquid from them back into the pot and discard them. Drain the peas, saving all their cooking liquid; boil to reduce it to about 1 cup (250 ml). Meanwhile, push the peas through a fine sieve with a flexible plastic spatula. Put this paste and the reduced liquid in a small pan.