Green Pea Soup is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic soup of fresh peas, parsley, spring onions and mint cooked in water and finished with meat glaze and sugar. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Green Pea Soup.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Green Pea Soup that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé's 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
No. 151.—GREEN PEA SOUP.
Prepare a quart of large peas, a good handful of parsley, the same of green onions, and two handfuls of green mint; boil these in three pints of water with a bit of butter and a little salt; and as soon as the peas are done, drain their liquor into a pan and reserve it; pound the peas in a mortar; mix them with the liquor the peas were boiled in; rub through the tammy or sieve, and pour the purée into a soup-pot. When about to send to table, make the soup hot by stirring it over the fire without allowing it to boil; add a pat of butter, a little pepper and salt, a dessert-spoonful of sugar, and about two ounces of glaze; serve hot, with fried crusts on a plate, separately. Note.—The fried crusts are prepared as follows: viz.,—take a piece of the crumb of a stale half-quartern loaf, say a fourth part, and cut this into slices less than a quarter of an inch thick, and again cut up these slices into very even small squares; these must be fried in a stewpan, with about an ounce of butter, over the fire—care being taken to toss them lightly and almost continuously while they are being fried; and when the assume a light golden-brown shade, drain off the butter, and place them upon clean paper to absorb the grease.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
600g large peas
handful of parsley
1 bunch of spring onions
2 bunches of fresh mint
1.8l water
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp butter
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
1 dessert spoon sugar
60g meat glaze, as made in the economy of second stocks or broth recipe fried bread, to accompany
Method:
Combine the peas, parsley, spring onions and mint in a pan. Pour over the water, then add the butter and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the peas are done. Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour the mixture into a food processor and purée until smooth. Press through a fine-meshed sieve to remove any large particles then pour the purée into a clean pan.
Allow the soup to heat through, but do not boil, and just before serving stir in the sugar and neat glaze. Serve hot, accompanied by thin pieces of fried bread.
