Chilled Sugar Snap Pea & Mint Soup
Mashed Avocado with Lime, Tomato Concassé with Shallot
Fresh Mint, Chili Oil & Creme Fraiche Garnish
A vendor at the Farmers’ Market was handing out samples of fresh-from-the-vine sugar snap peas. Telling people just to eat them as is, no cooking necessary. They were sweet & exploding with flavor, crunchy, the color of spring. Few of us could pass up buying a basket or two. Once home, I turned to my favorite vegetable cookbook Charlie Trotter’s Vegetables for inspiration: Sugar Snap Pea Soup. A simple and refreshing chilled soup. With avocado for richness, tomato for sweet acidity, mint for brightness. Spring. Bliss.
Chilled Sugar Snap Pea & Mint Soup Recipe
Start with about 2 c. fresh sugar snap peas. Remove peas from 1 c. of the pods, reserving the shells. Blanch the peas and shock in ice water, set aside. Then blanch and shock the remaining cup of sugar snap peas with the reserved shells. Place them in a blender with 1/3 c. blanched mint leaves and 1/2 c. cold water. Puree until smooth, add more water if necessary. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and season with salt and pepper. Chill.
Peel, seed, and chop two tomatoes. Sauté a small finely diced shallot in olive oil until translucent. Add the chopped tomato and cook about 5 minutes until most of the water has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper, set aside to cool.
Mash one large avocado with lime juice, salt and pepper. Oil the interior of a ring mold with a bit of olive oil. Place the ring mold in a shallow soup bowl, press a layer of avocado mash into the bottom. Top with a layer of tomato. Press down on the tomato with the back of a spoon to smooth the surface.
Place blanched peas around the ring mold. Ladle chilled soup over the peas.
Lift up the ring mold.
Mix creme fraiche (or fat free sour cream) with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and pinch of salt.
We like S&B La-Yu Chili Oil. It’s fiery hot balanced with a smooth sesame oil flavor and has vibrant red-orange color.
Spoon drops of creme into the soup, then dot with chili oil. Garnish with a sprig of mint.
This Chilled Sugar Snap Pea & Mint Soup is an adaptation of Chef Trotter’s recipe.
★★★★★
More Taste With The Eyes inspiration from my hero, Chef Charlie Trotter:
Resplendent Baby Gold Beet Salad
Lobster & Okra Fettuccine, Spicy Gumbo Sauce
Steamed Sablefish in Bok Choy, Shiitake, Navy Bean Emulsion
The Ultimate Vegetable Stir-Fry Tower, Three Vibrant Sauces
Napoleon of Portobella & Turnip, Ginger-Soy-Mirin Sauce
Black-Eyed Peas with Haricots Verts, Spicy Curry Emulsion
Contemporary Bistro Duck and Wild Mushrooms
Grilled King Trumpet Mushrooms & Shishito Peppers on Rosemary Skewers, Tomato Water
what a beautiful and delicious dish!
Looks beautiful, and I love the plating advice 🙂 I like chilled soups a lot for the summer 🙂
Two words … spectacular and pinning!
Oh, much too pretty to eat!
Wow. Gorgeous photo!!
Oh my goodness. Stunning and delicious!
I’m in love. Seriously… in love!
Loving everything about this soup – so fresh!
Beautiful presentation and Photos.
Once again just reading the title of your recipe makes mouths water, and the opening photo is delightful. Chilled soups are so perfectly refreshing on hot days and we are definitely looking forward to this one this summer. Really nice!
Amazing, as always! I adore snap peas raw – so I would have been in line to try them at the market, too!
Wow! The colors are so vibrant they are almost shocking. I bet it’s an explosion of flavor.
This is absolutely stunning.
I am breath taken by this post. Absolutely gorgeous! Tweeted and pinned darling!
Wow, what an arresting combination of colors and geometric shapes! Very avant-gaurde, but best of all, very delicious, I’m sure. I could certainly go for a bowlful right about now.
Absolutely beautiful!!! love the plating
This is too pretty, really feel like I’m feasting with my eyes!!
Taste with your eyes says it all! What a beautiful soup and all those wonderful layers of flavors! Delicious!
Oh my goodness this just looks smashing!! I cannot wait to try this one out for a dinner party. Thanks!!!
This is so pretty – I just want to stare at the picture!
this dish is so pretty!
A piece of artwork!
Happy Passover LL.
xo
LL,
Gorgeous flavor profile. The combo of the sweet from the avocado and a little heat from the chili oil. Well done.
I really should get my ring mold in some of my shots. Looks a lot like yours.
Bravo
This is no less than a work of art – and I’m sure it’s delicious too.
Never did “healthy” look so welcoming! You are turning me into a Trotter fan. Happy Passover.
So, so beautiful!! fitting for Michelin!
Ronelle
This is a stunning recipe! Charlie Trotter (and Alice Waters) has some of the best recipes for vegetables.
WOW!
Where have I been? Always astonishingly beautiful!
Your food photos are some of the best on the net IMHO.
xxCarolg
Gorgeous! So vibrant it just screams WELCOME SPRING!
One of the best looking soup I’ve ever seen! Happy to see La-Yu on your blog. =D
Your food styling and photos are just outstanding!!! What vibrant colors. And delicious, too! Hoping you had a marvelous Easter, my friend!
Wow, so healthy and beautif looking soup, thanks.
You are welcome to join in my monthly food blogger event THE SOUP KITCHEN, here all bloggers are welcome, hope to see you participate soon. Different theme each month. Theme for April is Chinese Soup.