French-Style Peas
Petits pois à la française: peas braised with lettuce, scallions and butter
- Serves
- 4
- Hands-on
- Total
- Level
- Easy
Peas, lettuce and scallions braised together in butter and a little stock make a soft, sweet, buttery side that goes with roast chicken, lamb or fish. Frozen petits pois work beautifully, which makes this a year-round dish.
Ingredients
- 30 gunsalted butter (2 tbsp)plus 15 g to finish
- 6scallions or 8 small pearl onionsscallions cut into 3 cm lengths
- 2little gem lettucescut into thin wedges or shredded
- 500 gpeas, fresh or frozen (3½ cups)
- 120 mlchicken or vegetable stock (½ cup)Chicken Stock, Vegetable Stock or store-bought
- 1 tspsugar
- 3 gfine sea salt (½ tsp)
- 1 tbspmint or parsleychopped
- black pepper
- Diet
- Gluten-free
- Allergens
- milk, celery
- Origin
- France
- Season
- Spring, Summer
Method
- Melt 30 g butter in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the scallions and cook gently until soft, 2–3 minutes.
- Add the lettuce, peas, stock, sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the peas are tender and the lettuce has wilted, 5–7 minutes (frozen peas take about 4 minutes).
- Uncover and simmer 1–2 minutes to reduce the liquid slightly.
- Off the heat, stir in the remaining butter until it melts into a light, glossy sauce. Add mint and pepper and serve.
Why it works
Lettuce releases water and wilts into silky ribbons that carry the buttery juices, while gentle braising lets the peas absorb the stock's savoriness. Stirring in cold butter off the heat emulsifies it with the reduced liquid into a light sauce that clings.
Common mistakes
- Overcooking: peas turn gray and mealy. Stop as soon as they're tender.
- Too much liquid: it should be a glaze, not a soup.
Variations
- With bacon
- Fry 75 g diced bacon or lardons in the pan before the scallions.
Notes
For a vegetarian version use vegetable stock.
