Green Pea and Mint Soup (Printable version)
Vibrant creamy soup with sweet peas, fresh mint, and tangy crème fraîche. Vegetarian and gluten-free.
# What you need:
→ Vegetables
01 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
02 - 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
03 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
04 - 4 cups frozen or fresh green peas
05 - 1 medium Yukon Gold potato, peeled and diced
→ Liquids
06 - 4 cups vegetable stock
→ Herbs & Seasonings
07 - 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
08 - Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
→ Garnish
09 - 1/2 cup crème fraîche
10 - Mint sprigs for garnish
11 - Freshly ground black pepper for garnish
# How To:
01 - Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, approximately 4 minutes.
02 - Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
03 - Stir in diced potato and peas. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat vegetables evenly in butter.
04 - Pour vegetable stock into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes until potato is tender.
05 - Remove from heat and stir in fresh mint leaves. Allow to cool slightly.
06 - Using a blender or immersion blender, purée the soup until completely smooth.
07 - Adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper according to preference.
08 - Ladle into bowls and top each serving with a generous spoonful of crème fraîche. Garnish with mint sprigs and additional black pepper if desired.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The natural sweetness of the peas plays perfectly against the cooling mint, creating a balance that somehow tastes like sunshine in a bowl.
- You can throw this together on a busy weeknight with frozen peas from the freezer, but it still feels like something you'd order at that little bistro downtown.
02 -
- If your soup turns out a bit too thin, a quick fix is adding a small amount of instant mashed potato flakes, which blend seamlessly without changing the flavor profile.
- Adding the mint after removing from heat rather than cooking it with the vegetables preserves its bright flavor and prevents that slightly bitter taste that can develop when mint is overcooked.
03 -
- Blanch your mint leaves in ice water for 10 seconds before adding them to the soup for an even brighter green color that will maintain its vibrancy even after storage.
- If using an upright blender rather than immersion, fill it only halfway and cover the lid with a kitchen towel while blending to prevent hot soup accidents, a lesson I learned the messy way.