Creamy Pea Soup
serves four to six
NOTE: Shallots work best with delicate green vegetables, but you
can use an equal amount of onions or leeks.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup minced shallots (7 to 8 shallots)
2 tablespoons flour
4 cups Chicken Stock or low-sodium canned broth
11/2 pounds frozen peas, partially thawed at room temperature for 10 minutes
12 small Boston lettuce leaves (about 3 ounces), washed, dried, and chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Heat butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add shallots and sauté, covered, until completely soft, 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour with wooden spoon. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add stock gradually, whisking constantly to thin out flour-butter mixture. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. While soup base is cooking, place partially frozen peas in workbowl of food processor and process until peas are texture of coarse, chopped pistachios, about 20 seconds. Stir peas and lettuce into soup base, cover, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Uncover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 2 minutes.
3. Purée soup in a blender in two batches until smooth. Pour soup through fine strainer (see figure 1) and into clean saucepan, then stir in cream. Bring soup to a simmer, but do not boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
VARIATIONS:
Creamy Broccoli Soup
Follow step 1 of Creamy Pea Soup recipe, using 2 cups stock and 2 cups water. Trim tough bottom portion of stalks from 1 large bunch broccoli (about 11/2 pounds). Peel tough outer skin from remaining portion of stalks. Coarsely chop peeled stalks and florets. Pulse broccoli in food processor until cut very small but not pureed. (The largest pieces should be pea-sized). Stir broccoli into soup base in place of peas and lettuce and simmer until tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Proceed with step 3 of Creamy Pea Soup recipe, but do not strain. Add 11/2 teaspoons lemon juice with salt and pepper to taste.
Creamy Asparagus Soup
Preheat broiler and position rack on highest setting. Place 11/2 pounds trimmed (tough ends discarded) asparagus on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tablespoon melted butter over asparagus and roll asparagus back and forth to coat. Broil asparagus until tender and just beginning to color, about 5 minutes. Cool and roughly chop. Reserve. Chop another 11/2 pounds raw, trimmed asparagus into 1-inch pieces and transfer to workbowl of food processor. Pulse until asparagus is finely chopped. Reserve separately.
Follow step 1 of Creamy Pea Soup recipe. Replace peas and lettuce in step 2 with broiled and raw chopped asparagus and simmer until tender, about 5 minutes. Proceed with step 3 of Creamy Pea Soup recipe. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice with salt and pepper to taste. If soup seems too thick, add up to 1 cup hot water.