I made this a couple of years ago for a Bastille Day themed book club lunch. DH and I both liked it and everyone at the lunch said they did as well. It was definitely easy.

Potage Saint-Germain

You could also make minted pea purée or pea pod soup. To be honest I don't buy fresh peas as they don't travel well. Frozen are often better having been frozen immediately after picking.

I make a pea pod soup which in includes lettuce too but the recipe is in a book at home. But it's pretty intuitive. You'll need to seive as well as blitz.

I haven’t tried this one but might be worth a try.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/fresh-pea-soup-recipe-1937479

I get petit pois frozen. They're delicious, but blanched and frozen = soft. Often we can get little bags of lovely fresh shelled peas, but I love peas in the pod, and will eat them raw, whole, like snow peas or sugar snaps. But that's when they're the size of snow peas or sugar snaps. These peas are HUGE. Like fava pods. (Unless...could they be something else? Probably just overgrown starchy big ol' peas...)

Thanks for suggesting ”pea pod soup”! I didn't know it was a thing. I found a recipe with a moderate amount of onion and garlic, and thyme and lemon. That sounds good! I don't have leeks and need to use what I do have. Too many of the recipes I've seen are trying to mask the pea flavor! I know some people hate peas, but none of my people do (Mr. Picky hates everything, so doesn't count).

I think that the fewer ingredients in fresh pea soup, the better. The potage St. Germain looks good, as it basically only has butter than shallots added and not that much shallot. Personally, I would not add leek, as it has too strong a flavor.

I agree, Lars. I mentioned the leeks because most of the pea soup recipes have them. I was thinking of subbing shallots but I'm not sure if mine are still okay from the time I haven't been able to cook. I liked that St.-Germain recipe just for the reasons you said, though some aliums instead of a veg stock are fine in moderation. A lot of the recipes I've seen---for fresh peas---are obviously trying to cover up the peas! They have leaks, spinach, mint and who knows what. If I wanted an extender, I'd make spinach soup with a pea puree drizzle or something, not throw in half the kitchen.

BUT--I was hesitating to try the peas, especially since I wasn't intending soup, and only have enough for a small batch. BUT, I opened one and it was all air inside, and the most beautiful little sweet bright fresh peas I've ever seen! Like fresh petit pois!! Really! I tried another and same thing. No way I'm putting these in soup! I was so bummed and confused by seeing the way huge pods it never occurred to me that they might be hiding tiny perfect peas. It makes me wonder if this is some new hybrid. Or an old one I haven't seen before. I did an image search and there were a couple with small peas scattered in a big pod, but most were the kind I'm used to. And one was actual fava beans, but it was at a stock photo site, so probably just a typo on the metadata.

The pods, however, aren't nice at all, and pretty much inedible, though they might boil down okay. Worse than I'd expected. But maybe that's the magic. Delicious little peas and pods only a being with a rumen could love--or digest!

Thank-you to all of you for your responses. Thank-you for introducing me to the concept of Pea Pod Soup. Thank-you for the recipe links. I appreciate everything, and will continue to do so as I munch my perfect little peas. :)

The pea pod soup I make uses pods which would be inedible raw. That's why it needs seiving, not just blitzing. So don't judge them on an uncooked tasting.

Okay. I'll give it another look. I'm used to pea pods that eat like green beans—a bit tougher raw than snow peas, but still nice to eat.

Well, booflippin’hoo. Those two were the only petit pois type in about a third of a box. There was one filled out the way I'd expected with big ol' starch bombs, and the rest arre variable average peas. I've saved the pods in case I'm moved to besoup them, and the peas will go in the cooking as originally planned. Pfttt. Now I'm spoiled and just want fresh petit pois....

The old saying is to have the water boiling before you go into the garden to pick the peas. The second they're picked the sugars start to convert to starch. For fresh petits pois flavour, unless you grow your own, I'd just use frozen. Chefs do.

Well, yes, but then those first two pods did have that flavor—which I didn't expect! but the ones we usually get aren't sugary anymore, but they're not full on starchy either.

I'm back home and have dug out my old soup book.

Pea pod soup.

As I said. If the pods are a little elderly it still tastes great but you'll need to sieve after blending. I use my mum's old mouli which does both jobs at once. And I use up any old bolted lettuce.

Thank-you, Floral! I have half a savoy cabbage, whoch might work in the absense of lettuce. And I found another pod with the sweet little peas, Perhaps this is some sturdier kind of pea. The starchy or no seems to depend on the size of the pea, which had been my usual experience, I thought, rather than going starchy over time. Or maybe refrigeration halts the sweet ones turning starchy? Though while these may have been chilled, the ones at the grocery store are merely cool. I'm still confused, but have been enjoying the peas, and the pods are holding well in the fridge.

Personally I wouldn't sub Savoy for lettuce. The flavour would be very different and much stronger.

Peas with lettuce is a classic combo, as Islay mentioned above. In the absence of lettuce I'd just leave it out altogether.

Really? This cabbage has no more flavor than some lettuce and a lot less than others. More and more, I'm learning that our produce is really different even when it looks the same! Besides not having any lettuce, as well, the idea of cooking it is really weird to me. Really weird.

I once made cream of lettuce soup, having an abundance of lettuce to use up and a tight budget, despite my misgivings. It was actually quite good and very delicately flavoured.

'This cabbage has no more flavor than some lettuce and a lot less than others. '

That surprises me. Savoy cabbage is a strongly flavoured winter vegetable ime. It goes well with robust tasting things like bacon. It would swamp the delicate pea flavour imo. But if yours is very bland it might work. The thing with lettuce is that is deliquesces into the soup. You can't detect it.

As for cooking lettuce, try grilling wedges of a crisp variety. Delicious.

Floral, I'm always interested in learning new things, so thank-you for that especially. I rarely get new words anymore, so a special thanks for “deliquesces”. The savoy probably wouldn't do that, I've only heard of grilled lettuce in the move Julie and Julia. Julia Child is a trusted source on one level, but there are a lot of things in her books I'm not eager to try. I appreciate your recommendation. At some point I’m sure I'll try the lettuce in soup thing, but when I'm more able to fuss with it. Thanks again!