Entertaining / Gluten Free / Side Dishes / Vegetarian

Pea Purée

Name: Pea Purée
Prep time: 7 min
Cook time: 13 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 10 g butter; 1 tsp olive oil (extra virgin, mild flavoured); 3 shallots, or 1 red onion (finely chopped); 500 g frozen baby peas (defrosted); 500 ml chicken or vegetable stock (2 cups) (or water); 40 g butter (add 10g more if desired); 1/4 tsp sea salt

June 19, 2020

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This vibrant, green and full of flavour Pea Purée is delicious. It is my go-to recipe that I have been making for years. So quick and simple to make and a great accompaniment to many dishes. This recipe is made in under 20 minutes.

A bowl of green Pea Purée with another bowl of whole peas in the background. They are on a dark wood table.

Pea Purée is a wonderful side dish to accompany many dishes like pies, roasted meats or vegetables. It is also great alongside poultry or fish and seafood dishes (beautiful served with scallops). We often serve it with homemade fish and chips. I also love serving it underneath fried foods like arancini balls or croquettes when entertaining.

The Pea Purée can be made ahead of time, so is great for entertaining.

Looking down into a ceramic bowl of green Pea Purée on a wooden table with a few peas scattered around it. There is also a bowl of green baby peas behind it in the top corner.

The Pea Purée can be made two ways – it can be simply puréed to a fairly thick, smooth purée that still has some texture (like the photos), or you can take an extra step and push this purée through a fine sieve using the back of a spoon. This will create a purée that has a silky smooth texture which is well suited to fish dishes or more refined dishes when entertaining.

The Pea Purée in these photos was served with my Homemade Beef and Vegetable Pie so I wanted to keep the purée nice and thick. You can find the recipe for my delicious and hearty pie here.

If I was serving the Pea Purée with salmon or chicken, I would make it a more silky smooth consistency.

A white speckled ceramic bowl full of vibrant green Pea Purée. There are a few baby peas scattered around the bowl on a wooden table and another bowl of whole baby green peas and a spoon in the background. — A thick, smooth puree with texture, but it can also be pushed through a fine sieve to achieve a silky smooth finish.

I love eating fresh peas, but for this purée I prefer to use frozen baby peas. Frozen peas are much easier to purée and I like to use ‘baby’ peas as they are younger and sweeter.

Ingredients

butter
olive oil
shallots or red onion
frozen ‘baby’ peas
chicken or vegetable stock
salt

To make the purée, I first sauté the shallots or onion in a small amount of butter and olive oil until soft. This gives a lovely flavour to the purée without overpowering the peas. I then add liquid to the onion and bring it to the boil. Once boiling, I then add the peas and blanch them for only 3 minutes so as not to lose their colour. The peas are then strained, reserving the stock (you might use some of this to thin the purée). Any leftover stock is delicious used in soups or added to a gravy, so don’t throw it out. The strained peas are added to a food processor and blended until smooth.

Looking into a pot that has a chopped red onion, butter and oil in it. — Red onion (chopped) is added to a saucepan with butter and olive oil.

Looking into the pot of sautéed and softened chopped red onion. — The onion is softened over low heat so it doesn’t colour.

The green baby peas and onions have been strained into a strainer, ready to be blended. — The blanched peas and softened onions are drained and the stock is reserved.

The cooked baby peas and onions are in the bowl of a food processor with a piece of butter, ready to be processed. — The blanched peas and onion are placed in a food processor along with extra butter, and is ready to be processed.

This Pea Purée is so simple and straightforward to make, so let’s take a look at the recipe…

Pea Purée

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Prep Time: 7

Cook Time: 13

Total Time: 20

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Australian

Keyword: frozen peas, gluten-free, mushy peas, pea purée, peas, side dish, vegetable, vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 173kcal

Author: Katrina | Katy’s Food Finds

Equipment

medium heavy-based saucepan
food processer or high speed blender
sieve

Ingredients

10 g butter
1 tsp olive oil extra virgin, mild flavoured
3 shallots, or 1 red onion finely chopped
500 g frozen baby peas defrosted
500 ml chicken or vegetable stock (2 cups) or water
40 g butter add 10g more if desired
1/4 tsp sea salt

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

Place 10g butter, olive oil and shallots into a heavy based saucepan and cook the shallots and salt over medium heat, until they start to sizzle. Stir for a minute or so, then reduce to low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are softened (approx 8-10 mins). Keep an eye on them as the goal is to completely soften them without browning them. Make sure they are very soft.
Add 500 ml of stock to the softened onions, turn up the heat to high, and bring to the boil. Once it’s boiling, add the defrosted peas and blanch for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain the liquid through a sieve, into a jug. Reserve the liquid and place the peas and onions into the bowl of a food processor or high speed blender. Blend the peas until smooth (no more than 2-3 minutes. It only takes 2 x 30 secs in my thermomix and a little longer in my food processor). Add some of the liquid in small amounts to achieve a fairly thick, smooth purée. Season to taste. This will give you a thick, smooth purée that still has some texture to it. Serve as is, or see below for a silky smooth consistency.
For a silky smooth purée – Tip the thick purée into a fine sieve and using the back of a large spoon, press the purée through.
Make ahead: the purée can be made ahead of time. Make it in the morning or even the day before and once cool, keep it covered in the refrigerator until required. To reheat: simply reheat gently in a pot, or in the microwave on a low setting until heated through.

Notes

The peas can be cooked in chicken stock, vegetable stock or plain water – I prefer the flavour that chicken or vegetable stock bring.

You can also add a small amount of cream to the pea purée when blending if you prefer. The recipe states 40g of butter to be added for blending, but you can add slightly more if you prefer a richer more luxurious purée.

I sometimes add mint to the purée – add 4-6 mint leaves to the boiling stock at the same time the peas are added, or add it to the peas in the blender, just before blending. I often do this when I serve the pea purée with roasted lamb.

Note: Don’t throw away the cooking liquid as it is delicious added to soups or to gravies. Cool, cover and keep refrigerated or freeze if not using in 2-3 days.