Cool Off with this Pea and Avocado Soup

A refreshing bowl of chilled pea soup — rich in vitamins A and K — is a great way to beat the heat. ICE’s Director of Culinary Affairs, Hervé Malivert, partners his peas with avocado to give it a viscous texture and tops it with a refreshing salad of crab and tart Granny Smith apples.

Whether divided among shooters and served as an hors d’oeuvre or generously ladled into bowls for a main course, this soup is a satisfying one. Here’s how to make it at home.

Recipe

Chilled Spring Pea & Avocado Soup with Crab Salad

Serves 6

Ingredients

For the Soup:

• 14 ounces English peas, shelled
• 7 ounces fava beans, shelled
• 3 shallots, peeled and minced
• 5 ounces celery, peeled and minced
• 3 ounces leeks, white part only, minced
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 cups unsalted chicken stock
• 1 ripe avocado
• Salt and ground white pepper, to taste

For the Crab Salad:

• 2 Granny Smith apples
• 1 lime
• 10 ounces jumbo lump crab meat, picked over for shells
• 1 ounce pea shoots (about 10 leaves picked)
• 1 ounce celery cress (about 10 leaves picked)
• 2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Piment d’espelette, to taste

Directions

For the Soup:

1. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and add shallots, celery and leeks. Season with white pepper and stir until softened, about 15 minutes.
2. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil and lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Put shelled peas and favas in colander. Plunge colander into the soup pot and cook for 3 minutes; remove from pot and immediately shock in an ice bath.
4. Remove soup from the heat and transfer to a blender and purée until smooth; reserve.
5. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and scoop out the flesh. Put avocado, peas, favas and a ladle of soup into a blender and purée until smooth. While blender is running, add more soup until smooth and creamy.
6. Push soup through a fine mesh strainer and season to taste. Reserve.

For the Crab Salad:

1. Thinly slice the apples. Using a 2-inch round cuter, cut out 6 rounds and brush with lime juice to prevent oxidation. 
2. Cut the rest of the apple into a small dice (should be 1/2 cup). 
3. In a bowl, combine the crab, diced apple and leaves; add olive oil and lime and season to taste with salt and piment d’espelette. 

For Assembly and Plating: 

Place the same 2-inch round cookie cutter in a soup bowl and fill with crab salad. Place apple slice on top and pour the soup around the crab salad, about halfway up. Garnish with reserved peas and leaves. Serve immediately. 

More from Chef Hervé: Duo of Duck with Mushroom Fricassée & Smoked Pea Purée >