Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 1 cup chopped fennel bulb (fronds reserved for garnish)
- 8 cups Basic Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth
- 4 packages (10 ounces each) frozen peas, defrosted
- 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ripe tomato, seeded and cut into tiny dice, for garnish
- 2 tablespoons chopped fennel fronds, for garnish
- Fresh pea shoots (optional), for garnish
How to Make It
- Melt the butter in the olive oil in a heavy pot over low heat. Add the onions and fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 15 minutes.
- Add the broth and peas. Raise the heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a medium-low and simmer, partially covered, until the fennel is soft, 15 minutes.
- Puree the soup, in batches, in a food processor or blender until completely smooth. After you puree each batch, pour it through a strainer into a bowl to remove the skins of the peas. Using the back of a large spoon, mash the solids in the strainer to extract as much liquid as possible. Add the cream to the strained puree and season with salt and pepper.
- If you are serving the soup cold, cover and chill it well in the refrigerator until serving time, at least 6 hours. If you are serving it hot, return the soup to the pot and heat it through, stirring, over low heat, but do not allow it to boil.
- To serve, ladle the soup into demitasse cups and garnish each one with a small spoonful of diced tomatoes, a scattering of fennel fronds, and, if desired, a fresh pea shoot.
