Chilled English Pea Soup With Extra-virgin Olive Oil

Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 3 quarts water
• salt
• 4 lbs fresh peas, shelled (4 cups shelled)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 cup cubed bread
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Recipe

• 1 for peas: bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan.
• 2 salt the water, then add the peas and bring the water back to a boil.
• 3 cook over moderate heat until very tender, about 20 minutes.
• 4 drain the peas, reserving the cooking liquid.
• 5 set aside 1/4 cup of peas.
• 6 for soup: 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.
• 7 work the puree through a fine sieve into a large bowl.
• 8 discard the contents of the sieve.
• 9 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.
• 10 refrigerate the soup until cold, at least 2 hours.
• 11 for croutons: in a large skillet, melt the butter in the vegetable oil.
• 12 add the diced bread and brown the cubes on all sides over moderately high heat, 3 to 5 minutes.
• 13 drain the croutons on paper towels.
• 14 to serve: ladle the cold soup into bowls and garnish each with a few of the croutons and reserved peas.
• 15 drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with pepper and serve.
• 16 make ahead: the soup can be prepared through step 2 and refrigerated for up to 1 day.
• 17 the croutons can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.