A Quick Soup
Earlier this week I had a bare bones drawer of produce and no mealtime plan. I had a boring but serviceable offering of utility players: carrot, celery, onion. This trio makes up the foundational “mire poix,” a building block of countless dishes in the Western culinary canon. I try to keep them on hand as they can be called upon to add some heft - a little savory backbone - to countless dishes.
I chopped and sautéed them to form the base of a very delicious pea soup, puréed and laced with lots of good olive oil. The important thing to note is that this “recipe,” (more like shortcut) can just as easily accommodate squash in place of the peas, for a silken squash soup. I opted for peas because I keep frozen bags on hand.
As with most of the notions shared in this newsletter, this is hardly a recipe and more of a loose guide. Roughly chop your carrot, celery and onion. I use the same amount of each, but bear in mind I like to do about 1 part mire pox to 3 parts of my “hero” ingredient (in this case, peas.)
Saute that mix in olive oil until you catch just a bit of color and everything has started to wilt. Then, add your defrosted peas. Toss them in and add a touch of liquid (could be water, chicken stock, or vegetable stock). As you can see below, I go very light on the liquid at this point, as I prefer to add more in the blender to achieve my desired consistency. I find I have much more control at that stage.
Bring the mix to a quick boil and then turn it off. Scoop all of that mix (liquid and all) into a waiting blender, and give it a whirl until it’s fully processed. I like to go longer than you think: 2 minutes or so. For a little body, you could add some mascarpone or cream. I added silken tofu to keep it light but just add the faintest layer of creaminess.
Give it a try and adjust for what’s needed. Salt of course. Perhaps more water for a thinner consistency. If you want to beef it up, another big drizzle of olive oil is always nice.
This can make a lovely dinner with a nice piece of garlic rubbed toast on the side. If you’re feeling cheffy you can drop some whole peas and some small cubes of cooked bacon in the bottom of each dish before adding your soup. These little jewels will await your discovery, adding a fun layer to an already delicious and simple soup.