Chilled Summer Pea Soup with Mint

I currently have a bounty of peas.  In addition to the peas from my garden,  there were two bags of fresh peas, one of sugar and the other snap peas in my box of vegetables from the farm.  Fresh peas from the pod are so fabulous and I wanted to capture that essence in a cold soup for dinner on a hot summer day. 


Peas from the pod remain sweet for only a very short time and then start to become starchy, so I needed to use as quickly as possible.  With both fresh mint and shallots from the garden, in combination with the peas, the freshness of this soup was hard to beat.  

2 shallots, finely diced
2 tablespoons of butter ( or olive oil, if vegan)
5 cups of shelled peas
2 cups of vegetable broth
4 or 5 leaves of fresh mint
1 cup of cream (or soy milk, for my vegan daughter)
kosher salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste




Sauté shallots in butter, until soft, but not coloured. Add vegetable broth and simmer for a few minutes.  Cool.  Briefly cook peas in boiling water, until softish, retaining some bite.  Rinse in ice bath to stop cooking.  


Combine cold broth, peas and mint in food processor and pulse until a smooth constancy.  Strain, add cream.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve, or store in refrigerator until ready to serve.  


Note, the peas become starchy very quickly, so do not store for too long.