The Wonderful Pea

When I think of vegetables I would have a hard time doing without, the pea is one of the first ones I think of. Whether picked young, shelled, and eaten for dinner that night,or frozen for winter dining, they make a most satisfying meal. And, there is nothing like sitting in the cool shade on a hot summer day shelling peas! We freeze bags and bags of them... enough so we can have pasta and peas most weeks throughout the winter. The real secret to peas is that they have to be in their prime... before the sugary pea taste turns to starch. Once a pea is too big, it is almost inedible.

Freezing peas couldn't be easier... blanch the shelled peas for 90 seconds, and drain in a colander. After they've drained for a bit, freeze them in quart freezer bags ... we freeze in 2 cup amounts, just the right amount for pasta and peas for 2. Remember to label bags with the amount and the year, bags tend to get lost in our freezer.

When peas are fresh, we love to make a fresh pea soup with butter dumplings. Sauteing lettuce is a wonderful addition, the slight bitterness of the lettuce perfectly offsets the sweet of the peas. And the bright green soup makes me think of spring, and how amazing growth, and life, and the power of the seed is.

FRESH PEA SOUP

4 cups freshly shelled peas

4 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

1 head Boston lettuce, chopped

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup cream

salt & pepper to taste

Boil peas in a soup pot with 2 quarts water, for about 30 minutes.

In a separate frying pan, saute chopped onion 5 minutes. Add lettuce and saute till wilted.

Add onion/lettuce mixture to the peas and cook for 10 minutes.

Puree the soup in a blender, about 2 cups at a time and return to soup pot.

Add wine, cream, and season to taste.

Add the cooked dumplings ( recipe follows).

Serve hot, or cold. If you serve it cold, a dollop of Greek Yogurt stirred in to each bowl upon serving is delightful.

BUTTER DUMPLINGS

6 Tbs soft butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups white flour

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp. salt

pinch cayenne pepper

mix the flour with the salt and cayenne .

cream the butter in a deep bowl, and beat in the eggs. ( the eggs wont quite mix with the butter.. they will when you add the flour) Add the flour and milk alternately, beating after each addition until all the flour and milk are incorporated. The mixture will be smooth and creamy but fairly stiff.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and drop the dough in by teaspoonfuls. Boil the dumplings, covered for 15 minutes, and transfer them with a slotted spoon to the soup.

We've been making this soup for years.. It originally came from The Vegetarian Epicure Book 2 by Anna Thomas. (1978).