Spring Pea & Mint Soup

Spring Pea & Mint Soup

Serves 4 to 6

Spring can happen fast in New England. One week we’re all in turtlenecks and down jackets; the next it’s gloriously warm and sunny. Suddenly the apple and pear blossoms are out, the fields have turned yellow with mustard and dandelions, and everything is lush and green. This recipe celebrates fresh peas and mint– some of the first green things to arrive in Vermont’s late spring.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped
2 medium red potatoes, diced with skin on
2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cups frozen peas
6 cups chicken broth
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 cup spinach, fresh or frozen
¼ cup fresh mint, additional for garnish
¼ cup fresh dill, additional for garnish
Pea tendrils, chives or plain whole milk yogurt or crème fraîche for serving

Variations

• This recipe works just as well with fresh peas but it can be time consuming to shuck this many peas. If I have fresh peas, I like to blanch them quickly and then save a few to use them to garnish with pea tendrils.

• To make this vegan, swap out chicken broth for vegetable broth and use all olive oil instead of butter.

Directions

Melt the butter and the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, until sizzling. Stir onions until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the potatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3⁄4 teaspoon pepper, stirring constantly, until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Bring to a simmer and add the peas, chicken broth, lemon zest and juice and stir for 10 to 12 minutes.

Take the soup off the heat. Stir in the spinach leaves, mint and dill and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Ladle the soup in batches into a blender on high and purée until smooth. In order to preserve the bright green color, try not to reheat unnecessarily after adding the spinach.

Garnish with any combination of fresh peas, pea tendrils, herbs, and yogurt or crème fraîche.