Peasy Easy Sweet Pea and Mint Soup

“What a pretty bright color! Wow! This is delicious!” Delicately flavored peasy easy sweet pea and mint soup—it blows them away.

Easy peasy. Simply simmer sweet peas with fresh herbs and puree until smooth. You can use frozen or fresh peas. Complement the sweet pea flavor with dollops of tangy goat cheese. For floating decoration, tear fresh mint and basil leaves, and if you have them, crunchy fresh peas. Thin slices of fresh snow peas also look pretty on top.

Cruising around the Salt Lake Farmer’s Market for inspiration, I bought a bag of peas to shell, to sprinkle on salads or something. Right after that I passed a booth where a couple of pre-teen kids were scooping fresh peas into pound-size plastic see-through bags. I stopped in my tracks–already shelled peas! “Who shells your peas?”, I asked. They answered, “We’ve got a small combine machine, these were picked this morning.” Sold!

How cool is that? Fresh shelled peas, as many as you want, without the pain of opening each pod and dumping out the peas, pod by pod. Peasy easy. Pick up some mint and basil—soup’s on.

Surprise them–on hot summer days serve this pea soup chilled. After you puree the soup, chill quickly, over ice. People don’t expect cold soup, and at first spoonful, they’re purring in delight.

Peasy Easy Sweet Pea and Mint Soup details and notes:

• Make this soup year round using frozen peas. You will need some frozen peas for the bright green color, even when fresh peas are in season. For the fresh to frozen pea ratio, see recipe below.

• Substitute sour cream or crème fraîche for the goat cheese.
• Make it vegan: Dollop the soup with soy yogurt, or sprinkle with coarsely chopped cashews.
• Use an immersion blender to puree the soup right in the pot.
• A small amount of fresh tarragon adds a pleasing anise note to the soup. Don’t simmer the tarragon in the soup–add at the end, when you puree everything together.
• If you have access to frilly pea shoots or pea tendrils, use them as garnish too.
• My friend had some lemony sorrel in her garden, so I added a few sorrel leaves. Be judicious, as sorrel darkens when cooked and can change the soup color.
• Adapted from a recipe in Maria Elia’s The Modern Vegetarian cookbook.

#Eat Seasonal:

This month’s seasonal produce list from Becky of The Vintage Mixer blog inspired this recipe. That, and finding fresh shelled peas at the Farmer’s Market!

For more ideas from other bloggers, follow the links below We hope to inspire you to get in the kitchen and cook something delicious, and seasonal.

Chinese Napa Cabbage Salad by Food for My Family

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Spicy Corn-Cherry Salsa by Floating Kitchen

Grilled Green Onion & Sweet Potato Salad with Warm Chèvre by Simple Bites

Chicken Gyro Bowls with Summer Veggies with Fresh Summer Veggies by Vintage Mixer

Latin Chipotle Quinoa Salad with Avocado by Foodie Crush

Broccoli Kale Salad with Greek Yogurt Poppyseed Dressing by Flavor the Moments

Grilled Summer Squash with Feta, Lemon & Fresh Herbs by Mountain Mama Cooks

Artichoke and Avocado Dip by Kitchen Confidante

Grilled Squash, Corn and Kale Salad by Completely Delicious

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Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Peasy Easy Minty Pea Soup

Make with fresh or frozen peas--but use at least one quarter frozen peas for the bright green color. Serve this easy soup hot or chilled. Makes about 4 ½ cups, serves 4 to 6.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Vegan Friendly, Vegetarian

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion , finely chopped (heaping ½ cup)
• 1 pound fresh or frozen green peas plus 6 ounces frozen green peas
• 3 cups water
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons lightly packed fresh mint leaves
• ¼ cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• Goat cheese , sour cream or crème fraîche, as needed
• Fresh shelled peas , or sliced snow peas
• Mint and basil leaves , for garnish
• Optional: pea shoots or tendrils

Instructions

• Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium flame. Sauté the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Do not let the onions brown.
• Add the first pound of peas, the water, the first ¼ cup of mint, the basil, and the salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer 10 minutes. (If you are using only frozen peas, simmer 20 minutes.) 
• Stir in the frozen peas and the remaining fresh herbs. Cook just until the second batch of peas are tender and hot.
• Puree the soup using an immersion blender, or in batches in a regular blender.
• Serve cold, or hot, with dollops of goat cheese or swirls of sour cream and fresh peas or snow peas. Decorate with fresh mint and basil leaves.

Notes

• To serve cold: Fill a large bowl with ice and nest the saucepan of hot soup in it. Stir occasionally until the soup is cold. (Alternatively, transfer the soup to a metal bowl and nest that in the ice bowl.)
• Substitute vegan yogurt, sour cream, or crème fraîche for the goat cheese.

Nutrition

Serving: 3g

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