Cooking Methods

Don’t cook peas for more than 5 or 10 minutes, or their flavor and color will suffer. For this reason they should be added to soups 5 minutes before serving.

One of the easiest and most satisfying pea soups is prepared by making a leek and potato soup, pureeing it with peas at the end, and then straining. You can also make a light split pea soup by simmering split green peas in broth and, as soon as they are tender, adding frozen peas and then pureeing and straining the whole thing together.

You can also prepare a pea soup as a classic cream soup or velouté: Make a roux by cooking 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 3 tablespoons unsalted butter in a 4-quart pot over medium heat for 5 minutes, add a quart of broth or milk, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add 2 10-ounce packages of frozen peas, simmer for 10 minutes more, puree in a blender, and strain. Finish the soup with ½ cup heavy cream or 4 tablespoons unsalted butter.