Last Saturday BeeBop and I were roaming around one of our favorite shopping places, Sam’s Club, and way back in the back past all the other fruits and veggies I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. Could it be? Really? Fresh English peas? In the middle of winter?
As y’all already know, we’ve had one more miserable winter around here. Snow. Ice. More snow. And so cold. Bone chilling cold – well, for this south Georgia girl it’s bone chilling. So, those packages of bright, green, fresh peas looked like nothing short of a breath of Spring to me! Did I care that they were not even in season? I did not. Did I care that they were shipped here from Guatemala? Nope. All I cared about in that moment was that those peas made me think of Spring. And warmth. And longer days with lots of sunshine. Ahhhh…..
I brought two packages of those little green gems home knowing exactly what I wanted to do with them. I’ve seen lots of recipes for peas with lettuce and always thought it looked so inviting. I used a bit of one recipe and a bit of another and some of my own to create this dish for dinner last night. It was delicious and helped me remember that Spring really is just around the corner.
3 tblsp. butter
2-3 green onions, sliced
12 oz. fresh, shelled English peas (or a 10 oz. package of frozen peas)
1 small head bibb or boston lettuce, shredded
½ cup chicken stock
salt
pepper
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Add the green onions and cook until softened but not browned.
Remove any stem and hard core from the lettuce and cut it into large shreds. I used a small Boston lettuce for this, but any small, tender lettuce (such as Butter lettuce) works fine.
Add the peas and lettuce. Stir well. Add the chicken stock and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 10 minutes (5 minutes if using frozen peas).
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 3 tblsp. butter
- 2-3 green onions, sliced
- 12 oz. fresh, shelled English peas (or a 10 oz. package of frozen peas)
- 1 small head bibb or boston lettuce, shredded
- ½ cup chicken stock
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat.
- Add the green onions and cook until softened but not browned.
- Add the peas and lettuce. Stir well.
- Add the chicken stock and salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover and cook for 10 minutes (5 minutes if using frozen peas).
Other recipes for fresh English peas from around the Internet:
- Green Garlic Soup with Fresh English Peas from Albion Cooks
- YumSugar’s Simple Pasta with Asparagus and Fresh English Peas
- Fresh English Peas with Mint on Melting Your Mouth
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
This sounds delicious – and I sure need hope for spring considering we have so much snow! I do notice the days getting longer….which does make me happier. Now if only the snow would stop falling. ;)
I know you have so much more cold and snow where you are than we do here in the South, but my goodness I am so ready for Spring to get here!
A breath of spring indeed, Lana! I so wish I’d had this wonderful looking recipe last week when I returned from an out of town trip to find loads of seriously over-ripe sugar snap peas in my home garden. I cooked them in their pods anyway, but they really would have been SO much better shelled and made this way. Wishing you warmth!
Why is Nigella Lawson’s name not mentioned anywhere when this is her exact recipe? I love these peas.. make them all the time.. and I always give her credit.
Sally – Thank you for your kind comment. Here is a link to Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Petit Pois: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/petits-pois-a-la-francaise-recipe/index.html It is, indeed, very similar but there are differences. She adds some garlic-infused olive oil (I didn’t) and she uses frozen peas giving no alternative directions for using fresh. I would venture to say that the recipe does not strictly belong to anyone since it is a classic of both British and French cookery and has been a kitchen standard for decades.
I absolutely love peas and lettuce. It’s an odd combination to some, but it is so delicious!
Ooooooh, I made this dish eons ago when I was in cooking school and it was yummy. Funnily enough a friend and I were just raphosdizing the other day about how good braised lettuce is…
I am inspired! :-)
I love braised lettuce, too, Janet. Actually, any braised green leafy veggie.
A friend of mine does a wicked braised kale that has lemon juice or high-end vinegar a large part of the flavour…it is acidic but amazing! I love to put a sturdy kale in soups and in chili-type dishes. In fact I no longer make chili – I make mexican vegetable stew .
Oh, that sounds wonderful! We Southerners love to put a vinegary pepper sauce on our greens, you know.
really now, fresh from Guatemala, at Sam’s Club, so glad to see it wasn’t from China… don’t think that family could do business if it were not for foreign goods…sorry, Lana, don’t like those folks one bit…
but I do like this recipe, reminds me of one with fresh peas, cherry tomatoes, cream and wilted lettuce…. such a great treat, especially this time of year…
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