The appearance of shelling peas at the Oak Park Farmers Market on Saturday meant that I could make one of my all-time favorite recipes this weekend. A recipe that is only in play for a few weeks each year: cold pea soup with mint. Luckily, this recipe is also a favorite with my soup-loving husband, so when I put it on the menu for Father’s Day, he thought I was doing something nice for him.
This recipe was inspired by a soup that I ate on my trip to Paris in May 2012. I tinkered with the recipe many times in the past two years but I have at last settled on my final version. It’s quite a simple recipe, as you will see, so the ingredients must be of the highest quality. Peas and onions make it sweet; buttermilk adds tanginess and the mint refreshes.
Why is it that frozen peas are so ubiquitous? It’s because fresh peas very quickly lose their sweetness and turn starchy. Freezing peas at their peak is actually a very good strategy for a vegetable that goes from sublime to blah so quickly. While I don’t care for frozen vegetables as a rule, I make an exception for frozen peas and use them every so often in chicken pot pie or Indian-inspired dishes.
But when I see fresh shelling peas at the farmers market, I know that these peas will be the tender, sweet peas of my dreams, so long as I use them quickly. I buy several pints for as many weeks as they are available and find almost no higher use for them than in this refreshing, elegant cold soup.
Yes, shelling peas can be a tedious kitchen task, but part of me secretly loves those old-fashioned chores that no one does anymore. There is something meditative about simple, repetitive tasks that allow the mind to wander. Or, I enlist small hands to help me.
If I were giving a dinner party in early summer, this soup would undoubtedly be my first course. And I would definitely serve it in delicate china cups. But on Father’s Day, I served this favorite soup to my family in capacious, Melamine bowls as we sat on our deck and enjoyed not only a day celebrating Dad, but also celebrating Zuzu’s last night at home for a while. (She left for several weeks of overnight camp this morning.)
After our soup course, we dug into grilled ribeye steaks, fresh local asparagus, a simple orzo salad and, for dessert, strawberry shortcake. It was a fitting tribute to my husband and to my grown-up, independent daughter.
- 3 TB Butter
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 cups fresh or frozen peas.
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup loosely packed mint leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat.
- Add the onions and sauté over medium-low heat until softened but not browned, approximately five minutes.
- Add the peas and stir to combine.
- Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Turn down heat and simmer until the peas are tender, approximately two to three minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Transfer the soup to a blender and add the buttermilk and mint and puree until smooth OR add the buttermilk and mint to the pot with the soup and puree using an immersion blender.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Chill for several hours until cold.
- To serve, garnish with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt and a mint leaf.
