Sasha's Kitchen: Chilled Pea Soup

Another great Brooklyn recipe from The New Brooklyn Cookbook that I love so much. This recipe is from The Farm At Adderley, a great farm-to-table restaurant out in Ditmas Park. It's a bit of a schlep to get out there for a meal from Manhattan or even Park Slope, but boy is it worth it - one of Brooklyn's best restaurants.

What I love about this recipe for chilled pea soup is how easy, simple and healthy it is. Most of the delicious soups I have made or have had out have heavy cream, or at the very least chicken broth, or some combination of the two. This recipe captures the essence of the fresh peas that I used to create it. Sure fresh peas are not in season right now, and I am sure it would have been even better if they had been, but I was able to get good quality, non-frozen english peas from Fresh Direct.

Farm At Adderley's Chilled Pea Soup with Fresh Lump Crabmeat
6 T Canola Oil
1 small onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups of fresh English peas
1 tsp of sugar or 3/4 tsp agave nectar
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, about 1 1/2 cups loosely packed, picked over
grated zest of 1/2 lemon, plus 1/2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
grated zest of 1/2 lime, plus 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1 or 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Heat 3T of the canola oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add the diced onion. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until translucent but not brown, which will take about five minutes.

Prepare an ice bath. Bring a large pot of water with salt to boil and add the peas to the boiling water. Blanch in the boiling water for two to three minutes and then transfer to the ice bath for one minute, before draining. Combine the peas with the onion and a cup of water in a blender, and puree until smooth. With the motor running add the rest of the canola oil, and season with salt and pepper. If you used fresh peas like I did, add the sugar or agave nectar.

In a medium bowl, combine the crabmeat with the zests, and lemon and lime juices, as well as the oilve oil. Season with salt and pepper. If you prefer you can cook the crab (I confess, I did), or you can simply place two tablespoons of the crab mixture in each bowl of chilled soup.I served with some bread and a lemon wedge.  Enjoy!