Ridiculously Easy Minted Pea Soup

Original recipe by: Leslie Brenner

The perfect starter for a spring dinner, this knockout of a soup is based on a traditional French recipe, potage Saint Germain. Don't confuse it with wintry split-pea soup: Starring English peas – petits pois – it's all about freshness and the flavor of the season. My version, kissed with fresh mint, has quite a lot going for it. It's vegetarian. It's so elegant you can serve it at the swankiest dinner party. And it's the easiest thing in the world to make, involving (besides water, salt, pepper and optional garnish) just four ingredients: lettuce, butter, mint and frozen peas. Yep, you read that right. Taste it, and you could swear someone spent half a day shelling fresh ones. Want to make more or fewer servings? Double the ingredients or cut them in half.

Want to serve it chilled, on a hot summer day? It’s fantastic like that, too; in that case, skip the crème fraîche and garnish it wi…