Potage St. Germain

Potage means thick soup in French and I have no clue why St. Germain had this pea soup named after him.

I can tell you that Potage St. Germain is a delightful summer soup with lots of room for variation.

My dear friend and yoga teacher served it to me for lunch the other day, I was so surprised to find it has lettuce in it !!

Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 head of butter lettuce or several baby gems lettuces*
1 cup or so chopped  leeks, spring onions or regular onions
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
4 cups water or stock
salt and pepper to taste

1) Heat the butter or olive oil in a soup pot, add one cup chopped onions or leeks.
    Saute the onions until just soft.

Spring onions.

2) Chop, wash and spin the lettuce.

Butter lettuce.

Salad spinner with lettuce.

3) Add the lettuce and 2 cups of peas to the onions in the pot, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.

4) Add the 4 cups of water or stock, cover and bring to a simmer. Remove the lid and cook until the peas are tender, 5 to 10 minutes.

5) When the soup has cooled enough, puree it in a blender or food processor. To adjust the thickness, use a slotted spoon to scoop out the green stuff and blend in batches.  Add some of the water from the pot to make it thinner to taste. Add salt and pepper to taste.

We like this soup without much other seasoning. In the last batch I did add the juice from one lemon. My friend Laurie adds a pinch of cumin and another recipe I saw online used fresh mint (1/4 cup for a recipe this size). You can top it with some yogurt, sour cream or fresh chopped herbs like parsley.

* Another great option is to use zucchini in place of the lettuce. I used about 2 cups chopped zucchini in my last batch and it was very tasty !!