Chef Juliette
Purée de Carottes, otherwise Crécy
Purée de Carottes, otherwise Crécy, turns carrots, butter, rice, and white consommé into a silken soup. The lesson is simple and absolute: blend for smoothness, then sieve for finesse.
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Purée de Pois aux Croûtons
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 647, Purée de Pois aux Croûtons, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Purée de Pois aux Croûtons brings split peas, raw ham, leek greens, and patient skimming into a pale, flowing potage, finished with white consommé, real butter, and crisp bread dice.
Soups & Stews
French
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
Make Ahead
20 min
Active Time
1 hr 45 min cook•2 hr 5 min total
YieldAbout 2 quarts (1.9 liters; 8 servings)
Purée de Pois aux Croûtons (split-pea purée with butter-fried bread dice) teaches that smoothness is not the same as refinement. A blender can make peas smooth; only patient skimming and a final pass through a sieve make the purée taste clean, pour in a soft ribbon, and leave no coarse husk behind. Know that before you touch the pan: the first rise of foam is the moment to stay close.
The original pot assumed a saucier to watch its surface, a wide tammy for sieving, a prepared Mirepoix (No. 228), and white consommé never off the fire. At home, one heavy saucepan, a blender, a fine-mesh sieve, and good prepared consommé do the same honest work. The source formula is already close to a family pot, so this version keeps its proportions and finishes at about two quarts for one cook, one stove, one evening. Constant brigade attendance is scaffolding and can go. The first skim, gentle cooking, sieving, and final butter are the dish, so they stay.
When it is right, the purée is pale green, glossy without looking greasy, and fluid enough to settle around the golden croûtons. Add those only as the bowls leave the kitchen so they remain crisp. Keep your skimmer beside the pan during that first rise; the clean first skim decides the whole soup.
Purée de pois belongs to the cuisine bourgeoise of Paris and northern France, where dried peas and ham made a sustaining household pot before the preparation entered the formal soup course. Grand kitchens refined it by passing the peas through a tammy, extending the purée with white consommé, and skimming until its flavor and surface read clean. Despite its pale green color, this is not a fresh petits pois soup: dried split peas provide its body, while butter-fried croûtons supply the essential crisp contrast.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried green split peas
Quantity
1¾ cups (420 ml / 350 g)
cold water
Quantity
4 cups (960 ml / 960 g)
fine salt
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g), plus more to taste
raw unsmoked ham
Quantity
8 ounces (227 g)
left in one piece
prepared Mirepoix
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 57 g) Mirepoix (No. 228)
green leaves from medium leeks
Quantity
3 leeks (about 2 packed cups / 180 g)
thoroughly washed and minced
thyme
Quantity
1 small sprig
bay leaf
Quantity
½ leaf
granulated sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g)
hot white consommé
Quantity
2 to 3 cups (480 to 720 ml / 480 to 720 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons (40 ml / 37 g)
divided
day-old white bread
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 8 g)
cut into ¼-inch (6 mm) dice
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried green split peas | 1¾ cups (420 ml / 350 g) |
| cold water | 4 cups (960 ml / 960 g) |
| fine salt | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g), plus more to taste |
| raw unsmoked hamleft in one piece | 8 ounces (227 g) |
| prepared Mirepoix | ½ cup (120 ml / 57 g) Mirepoix (No. 228) |
| green leaves from medium leeksthoroughly washed and minced | 3 leeks (about 2 packed cups / 180 g) |
| thyme | 1 small sprig |
| bay leaf | ½ leaf |
| granulated sugar | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) |
| hot white consommé | 2 to 3 cups (480 to 720 ml / 480 to 720 g) |
| unsalted butterdivided | 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons (40 ml / 37 g) |
| day-old white breadcut into ¼-inch (6 mm) dice | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 8 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •4-quart (3.8-liter) heavy saucepan with lid
- •Fine-mesh skimmer or shallow spoon
- •Countertop blender or immersion blender
- •Fine-mesh sieve and sturdy ladle
- •8-inch (20-cm) skillet
Instructions
- 1
Wash and skim
Rinse the split peas thoroughly in cold water, agitating them with your fingers and draining until the water is nearly clear. Put them in the saucepan with the 4 cups of cold water, the ham, and half the salt. Bring slowly just to the boil without stirring. As the grey foam gathers, skim it off with a shallow spoon or fine skimmer. If a hard boil breaks the foam back into the liquid, pull the pan off the heat for two minutes, return it over gentle heat, and skim what reforms. Ça se rattrape.
- 2
Simmer the peas
Add the prepared Mirepoix (No. 228), minced leek greens, sugar, thyme, and bay leaf. Lower the heat, cover the pan partially, and cook at the gentlest simmer for 75 to 90 minutes, stirring across the bottom occasionally once the initial foam is gone. The peas are ready when they collapse completely under a spoon and the leek greens are tender. If the purée catches, do not scrape the scorched layer into it. Pour the untouched contents into a clean saucepan and leave the darkened bottom behind; caught early, it can still be rescued.
- 3
Blend and sieve
Lift out the ham, thyme, and bay leaf. Reserve the fully cooked ham for another meal. Let the peas settle for five minutes, then blend until very smooth, working in batches and filling a countertop blender no more than halfway. Vent the lid beneath a folded towel so pressure cannot build. Press the blended purée through a fine-mesh sieve with the back of a sturdy ladle. This replaces the old tammy without surrendering its purpose. If the purée is too thick to pass, loosen it with a ladleful of the hot consommé and continue.
- 4
Loosen and clarify
Return the sieved purée to the clean saucepan and whisk in 2 cups of the hot white consommé. Add more gradually until the soup measures about 8 cups and falls from the ladle in a broad ribbon rather than a heavy heap. Bring it to the barest simmer and skim away the pale foam and any beads of fat for 8 to 10 minutes. This final skimming is what makes a good pea purée read clean. If it is thin, reduce it gently before adding the butter; if it is thick, add another splash of consommé.
- 5
Fry the croûtons
Melt the 2 teaspoons of butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the bread dice and toss them steadily until every side is crisp and evenly golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer them to a small plate and keep them uncovered. Covering warm croûtons traps moisture and softens the very contrast the dish needs.
- 6
Finish with butter
Take the purée off the heat and use the monter au beurre finish, whisking in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter a few pieces at a time until the surface gleams. Do not boil it afterward. If the butter beads on top, whisk in a spoonful of reserved consommé off the heat until the purée comes together again. Taste for salt, ladle into warm bowls, and scatter the croûtons over the surface at the last possible moment. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Green split peas need washing but not soaking. Their dried starch is what gives this purée its body, and soaking only makes tonight's timing harder to judge.
- •Ask for raw, unsmoked ham, preferably a lightly salted piece with a little fat. Smoked ham overwhelms the leek and thyme and turns the preparation into a different soup.
- •Use a clear, gently seasoned white chicken consommé. A dark roasted stock muddies both the color and the clean pea flavor the final skimming worked to preserve.
- •Do not skip the sieve after blending. The blender supplies smoothness; the sieve removes coarse skins and leek fibres. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, but this small discipline is the dish.
Advance Preparation
- •Cook, blend, and sieve the pea base up to two days ahead. Cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat gently with the consommé, complete the final skim, and whisk in the butter only before serving.
- •The croûtons may be fried several hours ahead. Let them cool completely, then keep them airtight at room temperature and scatter them over the bowls only at the table.
- •The finished soup keeps for three days under refrigeration. Reheat it slowly and loosen it with a little consommé if it has thickened; never let the buttered purée boil.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 240g)
Calories
270 calories
Total Fat
7 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
30 mg
Sodium
480 mg
Total Carbohydrates
33 g
Dietary Fiber
9 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
19 g
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