April Recipe to Try: Pea Soup with Morel Cream Sauce

In honor of morel mushroom season, food photographer and Town Dish contributor Alexandra Whitney Photography tapped her chef friend, Daniel Lyons of Bistro 614, to share his life-changing and ultra-luscious recipe for pea soup drizzled with decadent morel cream sauce. The inspiring culinary delight is detailed in a full tutorial below. After one dreamy spoonful, you’ll be wishing it was morel season every single month.

Recipe: Pea Soup with Morel Cream Sauce

Stock Ingredients:

• 1 onion, largely chopped
• 3 carrots, largely chopped
• 1 bunch of kale, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 black peppercorns, whole
• salt to taste
• 1 1/2–2 quarts water

Stock Instructions:

1. Bring all of the ingredients above to a low boil for an hour.
2. Strain and reserve stock.

Soup Ingredients:

• 1/2 oz. morel (dried) or about 8 oz. fresh
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 5 cups shelled fresh peas (or two 14 oz. packages, thawed, if using frozen peas)
• 6 Tbs butter
• 2 Tbs flour
• 1 cup wine (optional)
• 5 cups vegetable stock (from recipe above)
• bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste
• mint (optional)
• pea shoots for garnish

Soup Instructions:

1. Blanch peas in boiling water for 2–4 minutes (you want the peas to get a little soft, a little softer than al dente); ice immediately to stop them from cooking and then drain.
2. Sauté shallots in 2 Tbs butter and add 5 cups of stock. Add peas and cook until peas are soft. Add mint (optional) and cook for 1 minute.
3. Pull out 1/2 cup of peas (to be added in later). Puree the rest and strain. Keep pea broth and discard the rest of the puree.

Make Blonde Roux:

1. Sauté 2 Tbs butter and 2 Tbs flour in a pot; cook until slightly brown and thick.
2. Add pea broth back to pot and thicken with roux. Add remaining 1/4 cup of heavy cream.
3. Stir in 1/2 cup reserved cooked peas.
4. Season with salt and pepper and cayenne pepper.

Mushroom Cream Sauce Instructions:

1. If using dried morel mushrooms, soak for 30 minutes to soften.
2. Saute shallot and chopped mushrooms in 2 Tbs butter.
3. Add 3/4 cup heavy cream. Reduce by a 1/3–1/2 cup.
4. Puree and strain.

Assembly:

• Photography: Alexandra Whitney Photography