Try this easy and delicious recipe for Mushy Peas
- Carbohydrate 0.385161458598649 g
- Cholesterol 17.8151562662535 mg
- Fat 5.63757448390681 g
- Fiber 0.0717708333333334 g
- Protein 0.212273437707203 g
- Saturated Fat 3.53761791963069 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (11g)
- Sodium 23.3754166790291 mg
- Sugar 0.313390625265315 g
- Trans Fat 0.34367822943385 g
- Calories 52 calories
Step-by-step
- Bring a shallow pot of lightly salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add frozen peas, and cook for 3 minutes, or until tender.
- Drain peas, and transfer to a blender or large food processor. Add cream, butter, salt and pepper to peas, and process until blended, but still thick with small pieces of peas. Adjust seasonings to taste, and serve immediately.
Bright green and coarsely textured, proper mushy peas offer a balance of fresh vegetable sweetness and rich dairy fat. Traditional versions rely on dried marrowfat varieties soaked overnight, but frozen green peas provide a shortcut yielding vibrant color and a clean, direct flavor. Boiling frozen peas for precisely three minutes sets their chlorophyll without dulling the bright hue to an olive drab. Undercooking leaves them starchy and resistant to puréeing, while boiling past four minutes destroys the cellular structure completely, turning the mixture into a watery paste.
Texture and Blending Mechanics
Achieving the correct consistency requires mechanical action rather than chemical agents. Transferring the drained peas directly to a food processor while piping hot ensures the heavy cream and butter emulsions break evenly across the vegetable matter. Process the mixture in short pulses to maintain visible fragments rather than a uniform baby-food consistency. Heavy cream adds butterfat that coats the palate, counteracting the natural dryness of the legume starch. Cold butter acts as a stabilizer at the final stage, imparting a glossy sheen when emulsified by the blades.
- If the purée turns out too loose, return the mixture to a warm saucepan over medium-low heat for two minutes to evaporate excess surface moisture.
- Frozen peas retain water internally; drain them through a fine-mesh sieve for at least 60 seconds before blending to prevent dilution.
- Reheating leftovers requires gentle stovetop warming with an extra splash of cream, as microwave reheating can break the dairy emulsion and separate the fats.
