Chilled Summer Pea Soup
This soup gets all its flavor from the peas. If you can’t find really sweet fresh ones, use frozen baby peas instead.
PEAS:
3 quarts (12 cups) water
salt
4 pounds fresh peas, shelled (4 cups shelled)
SOUP:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
freshly ground pepper
CROUTONS:
1 cup cubed bread
2 T unsalted butter
1 T vegetable oil
DIRECTIONS
Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Salt the water, then add the peas and bring the water back to a boil. Cook over moderate heat until very tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the peas, reserving the cooking liquid. Set aside 1/4 cup of peas.
In a food processor, combine the remaining peas with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking liquid and puree until smooth. Work the puree through a fine sieve into a large bowl. Discard the contents of the sieve. Stir in about 4 cups of the cooking liquid and season with salt and pepper; add more cooking liquid if necessary to make a nice, creamy soup. Refrigerate the soup until cold, at least 2 hours.
In a large skillet, melt the butter in the vegetable oil. Add the diced bread and brown the cubes on all sides over moderately high heat, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain the croutons on paper towels.
TO SERVE
Ladle the cold soup into bowls and garnish each with a few of the croutons and reserved peas. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with pepper and serve.