Petits Pois à La Française - French Style Peas

"A delicious combination of peas, onions and lettuce which are gently poached in a buttery sauce with crème fraiche and vegetable stock; this classic French recipe is a wonderful way to serve tender little peas, petits pois. This recipe makes a delightful accompaniment to any type of main meal, and adds a real splash of colour. I have stated fresh OR frozen peas in the recipe - frozen peas can be used to great effect out of season. In the absence of small silverskin onions, spring onions (green onions) can be used, making this a very versatile recipe to serve throughout the year. Cut back on the butter if you are on a low fat diet - the taste will be less rich, but still as delicious!"
 
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photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart
photo by Rita1652 photo by Rita1652
photo by Rita1652 photo by Rita1652
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
Ready In:
20mins
Ingredients:
8
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Gently heat the butter in a large saucepan and add the onions and lettuce. Cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until the onions and lettuce soft but not coloured. If the pan gets too hot just add a little vegetable stock.
  • Pour in the vegetable stock and add the caster sugar, bring to the boil and continue to cook on a fast boil for a further 3 minutes. Taste and season with a salt and black pepper.
  • Add the fresh or frozen peas to the stock with the onions and lettuce. Cook over a low to medium heat for 10 minutes for the fresh peas or 5 minutes for the frozen peas - or until they are cooked through, but NOT mushy or too soft; they should still retain their vibrant green colour and have a "bite" to them.
  • Just before the end of the cooking time - add the creme fraiche and gently mix; allow to heat through for about 1 to 2 minutes. Check the seasoning once more and adjust to taste.
  • Serve immediately with the sprigs of fresh mint on top.

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Reviews

  1. Tried this recently. Preparing and serving peas in this manner raises the humble pea from its usual lowly status to something truely sublime. The recipe can also be used for corgette (zuchini) cut into small dice, but don't over cook them. Superb!
     
  2. Made for ZWT5, The Epicurean Queen Team. We love peas and this will certainly go into the make again folder. Merveilleux!!! Made as directed and enjoyed trying the creme fraiche.
     
  3. Merveilleux! Just wonderful! This was part of our Menu #28651. So east to put together. I did use 1/2 a head of iceberg. I did use only 1/4 cup of stock. Part of our Menu #28651. Merci Beaucoup! Made for ZWT5.
     
  4. Oh my goodness-I never knew peas could be this DELICIOUS! I used frozen peas and sour cream. Everyone loved these peas-I was proud to serve them to family and friends! Thank you for a great recipe, French Tart!!!
     
  5. As with another of your French side dishes which I rated highly, I do not rate this on the level of sophistication, but on what can be done with plain veggies! I had a forgotten head of iceberg lettuce which had to be used up, and had to use frozen peas as this is still winter and no fresh peas are in sight! Also, I used the so-called "pickling onions" because those were all I had. They are small, but I cut them in half crosswise. I followed the recipe exactly (but cutting down on quantities as we are only two people), and used firm sour cream instead of crème fraiche. It's the usual simple but Frenchified touch we love! One word of warning: although I sprinkled over the vegetable stock powder, very little water (a splash) was needed because I used frozen petit pois, which shed their own liquid. So keep that in mind before you add all the stock. A delicious, comforting side dish. Thanks, FT!!
     
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Tweaks

  1. As with another of your French side dishes which I rated highly, I do not rate this on the level of sophistication, but on what can be done with plain veggies! I had a forgotten head of iceberg lettuce which had to be used up, and had to use frozen peas as this is still winter and no fresh peas are in sight! Also, I used the so-called "pickling onions" because those were all I had. They are small, but I cut them in half crosswise. I followed the recipe exactly (but cutting down on quantities as we are only two people), and used firm sour cream instead of crme fraiche. It's the usual simple but Frenchified touch we love! One word of warning: although I sprinkled over the vegetable stock powder, very little water (a splash) was needed because I used frozen petit pois, which shed their own liquid. So keep that in mind before you add all the stock. A delicious, comforting side dish. Thanks, FT!!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p><strong><span>The sunflowers in the field behind my house in SW France:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Sunflowers src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/DSCN8221.jpg alt=Sunflowers width=640 height=480 /><br /><strong><span><br /><br />I am British (English-Scottish), but I was born in South Africa and have lived all over the world, including Hong Kong, Germany, Cyprus, USA &amp; Singapore. I have also been very fortunate to have travelled extensively over the years.........I still have wanderlust! <br /><br />I used to be an English Literature &amp; Art History teacher &amp; lecturer; before that, I trained and worked as a Graphic Designer for many years. I now live in France with my husband &amp; my daughter who has just started university in September 2006. We also have one very chatty Burmese cat Willow, who allows us to live with her here! (I used to have three cats, I recently lost Monty, a beautiful seal point Siamese and before that, Rama, who was a debonair blue point Siamese cat - I would love to have another Siamese cat or cats in the future!)</span></strong></p> <p><em><strong><span>This is my Burmese Cat, Willow, sunning herself on the log pile in the kitchen garden:</span></strong></em></p> <p><strong><img title=My src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/ABaconButtyandSundryFoodPhotos34.jpg alt=My width=640 height=480 /></strong></p> <p><strong><span>Here is my lovely Monty, a seal point Siamese, and Willow, sitting&nbsp;in the kitchen garden last year, and a few months before Monty died; he was 18yrs old:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Monty src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/AbsolutelySinfulStickyToffeePudding.jpg alt=Monty width=640 height=480 />My</p> <p><strong><span>This is my wonderful old boy, Rama, a blue-point Siamese, who died when he was 20yrs old - excuse the old and much sellotaped photo:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Rama src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/Rama1stOctober2004164.jpg alt=Rama width=517 height=639 /></p> <p><strong><span>My favourite pastimes are: reading, writing, painting &amp; drawing, photography, gardening, anything creative, walking, travelling, dining out and of course COOKING! I love all types of cuisine, but especially Traditional British - and NO it is NOT all bad!! I particularly love food associated with the changing seasons plus traditional feasts &amp; festivals, as well as Slow Cooking. I also enjoy French &amp; North African cuisine, come to think of it, there isn't much I don't like! <br /><br />My husband &amp; I run a Chambres D'Hotes, (Bed and Breakfast) called Auberge de la Fontaine here in beautiful South West France; we specialise in Gourmet Food &amp; Wine Breaks, French Antiques &amp; Restoration courses, French Language courses and French Cookery classes. Our home is completely furnished with Antique French furniture that we have rescued &amp; restored ourselves. Our charming village has one of the oldest Churches in the region &amp; it is famous for its connection with the St.Jacques de Compostella Pilgrimage route, as well as being within the Cognac &amp; Bordeaux wine growing area. <br /><br />We have a wonderful garden where we grow ALL of our own herbs and most of our fruit and vegetables. I specialise in rare, unusual and old-fashioned herbs, which I grow in our walled garden. As well as growing herbs, I also grow many different varieties of lavender, old-fashioned shrub roses and heirloom fruit and vegetables. <br /><br />We have lived overseas for many, many years now - but we both still love going home to Northern England, near Scarborough &amp; York, to visit our family &amp; friends. We also love indulging in dining out when we are there, in a wide variety of EXCELLENT Gastro-Pubs that we have in North Yorkshire; and popping in to have a Pint of REAL ENGLISH ALE in our local pub is a always a must!! <br /></span></strong></p> <p><br /><a href=http://photobucket.com/images/merci%20beaucoup target=_blank><img src=http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp287/vi-vie15/Merci/hb09izl7.gif border=0 alt=merci /></a> <br /><br /><strong><span>A Message to all who make and review my recipes! I try very hard to reply to EACH and EVERYONE of you who kindly makes, reviews and photographs my recipes! However, sometimes I am so busy in the B and B, and with other things, that I may be late in sending a personal thank you message, and sometimes I forget completely! I would just like to thank you ALL in advance, and just in case I am late or forgetful in sending a personal thanks. I am always very humbled by anyone who chooses to make one of my recipes, and I love reading the reviews and seeing the beautiful photos that are posted. Merci beaucoup encore! <br /><br />A note about my recipes. All of my posted recipes, whether they be my own concoctions or adaptations from a book or a famous chef, have been tried and tested at least once, by ME! I try to make sure that I am the guinea pig and not you! However, if there is anything you would like ask me about one of my recipes, or a query that I may be able to help you with, please do write and I will try to answer your question as soon as possible. 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