Updated, Below.
As with many new recipes, I start with posts from Serious Eats and work onward from there. This soup was a hit at a party. I tweaked it a bit from the original recipe. I used 1/2 stock and 1/2 water because I feared that the home made chicken stock would be overpowering. Also, since we were serving it chilled, I brightened it up with a little sherry vinegar, and added a touch of finishing olive oil.
I had never seen the technique of simmering the lemon peel in water a couple of times to remove some bitterness.
The soup itself was silky smooth and delicious. Yes it did get the "We can serve this to people" accolade. Just as well because we did!
I had never seen the technique of simmering the lemon peel in water a couple of times to remove some bitterness.
The soup itself was silky smooth and delicious. Yes it did get the "We can serve this to people" accolade. Just as well because we did!
Ingredients
Rind of 1 small lemon, with all the pith removed
1 T butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 shallot, minced
Kosher salt - to taste Added at various stages
14 oz frrozen small peas
1 cup chicken stock + 1 cup water
A bunch of mint, chopped
3 oz Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, finely grated
Pepper - to taste
Coarse sea salt
A couple of T high quality extra virgin olive oil (a finishing oil, not an everyday cooking variety)
A couple of T sherry vinegar
Method
In a small pan, cover the lemon rind with water, bring to the boil, pour off the water and repeat. Chop the rinds thinly and reserve for later use.
Melt the butter in a large pan/saucier and add the onions and shallots. Add a good pinch of salt and cook slowly until translucent. 5+ minutes.
Add the peas to the pan (If frozen, no need to thaw). Stir for a minute or so to cook them slightly. Add the lemon rinds and stock. Bring to a boil, and immediately remove from the heat. Add the mint.
Add the mixture to your blender. Blend until silky smooth. Add the grated cheese, and blend again, making sure that the cheese is completely incorporated.
Season to taste with kosher salt/pepper. Remember that sea salt will be added at the end, so you may want it slightly under salted.
Chill overnight.
Serving
Ladle the soup into chilled bowls. Add some coarse sea salt crystals, and drizzle with the olive oil/vinegar. Crusty bread and a little butter helped it along.We served it with a Condrieu.
Update April 8, 2023
We made this again, for a dinner party. This time we omitted the Parmegiano Reggiano, used olive oil instead of butter, and used more mint. Also we scaled it up to 2x this recipe. It was intended to serve 10 people.
It was passed through a fine meshed strainer before being served with croutons, garnished with a mint sprig and a dehydrated lemon slice. The usual coarse salt and sherry vinegar were in evidence too.
