Sweet Pea & Spinach Soup
Cook the onion in butter until soft, about 5 minutes, stir in the peas and spinach, and pour in the sherry, cooking until most of the liquid disappears. Add the lemon juice, dill sprigs and 3 cups of chicken broth, bring to a boil, and simmer about 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature, blend until smooth, return to the pot, and add more broth if too thick. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the cream, and garnish with sour cream and dill.
Few colors say spring like the vivid green of a good pea soup — bright, fresh, and full of the season's sweetness. This one pairs tender sweet peas with baby spinach and a whisper of dill, deepened by a splash of sherry and rounded with cream. Velvety and elegant, it can be served hot on a cool evening or chilled on a warm afternoon, always looking as vibrant and alive as the garden it came from.
Sherry to Concentrate
A simple pea soup can taste flat, so this one builds depth from the start. Soften the onion in butter until translucent, then stir in the peas and spinach and deglaze the pot with dry sherry and cook it down until the sharp alcohol scent burns off and the liquid reduces to a thick syrup. That concentrated, nutty base is the flavor foundation everything else builds on — the reason the finished soup tastes rounded and savory rather than merely sweet and green.
Simmer, Then Purée Velvety
Two steps guarantee a flawlessly smooth soup. First, simmer the peas and spinach in the broth a full twenty minutes — long enough for the tough outer skins of the peas to break down completely, which is what lets them purée without any grit. Then blend aggressively until the soup turns silky and bright green. Stir in the cream over low heat at the end, and take care never to let it boil once the dairy is in, or it may break and lose its luxurious smoothness.
Sweet Pea & Spinach Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the butter over medium heat in a soup pot.
- Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the peas and spinach. Pour in the sherry and cook until most of the liquid disappears, about 4 minutes more.
- Add the lemon juice and dill sprigs.
- Pour in 3 cups of chicken broth.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer the soup for about 20 minutes.
- Remove the soup from the heat and cool to room temperature.
- Use a food processor, blender, or immersion blender to liquefy the ingredients to create a smooth, velvety soup. Return the soup to the pot. If the soup is too thick, you can add some more broth.
- Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cream. At this point, you can chill the soup or heat the soup to warm it up. It’s great served warm or cold!
- Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a bit of dill.
The Heart of the Table
To open a meal with a small bowl of something this vivid is a quiet celebration of the season — a green so bright it looks like spring itself, offered as a gesture of freshness and care. There's generosity in a first course that asks nothing but to be admired and enjoyed, a lovely, unhurried start that tells guests the whole evening was thought through.
The Art of the Host
A heavy soup pot and an immersion blender are all this needs — the blender gives the soup its signature velvety texture right in the pot. Frozen sweet peas are ideal here; they're picked and frozen at peak sweetness, so the soup tastes of spring year-round. Let the soup cool to room temperature before blending if you use an upright blender, and never boil it after the cream goes in.
Neighborly Grace
- The Preparation: Deglaze the softened onions with sherry to build a concentrated base, simmer the peas and spinach until tender, then blend velvety-smooth and finish with a swirl of cream. Simmer long enough to break down the pea skins for the smoothest texture; it reheats well.
- The Pour: A crisp Sauvignon Blanc or a dry sparkling wine suits the fresh spring peas. For a non-alcoholic option, a mint-cucumber cooler or a sparkling lemon water keeps it garden-bright.
- The Vibe: This is vivid spring in a bowl — a brilliant green soup, served warm or chilled, that tastes like the season's first tender peas.