Pea Soup with Mushroom Cream Sauce

This is a Taste of Home recipe. I know a lot of people will be turned off by the green-ness of it, but it's brilliant spring hue is exactly what drew me to it in the first place. I love fresh green things to eat, and we've been waiting so long, and will wait still longer thanks to a sluggish season, for that baby green. So I created it for the dinner table. It was good, but I don't care how many times they tout it as a main course, I think it got a little monotonous that way and would be better as a beautiful, and yummy, side dish. Additionally, I don't think it had enough protein as written so I added about the cannellini beans.

Pea Soup with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Yield: 6 Servings
Prep Time: 25 min
Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients:
  ● 1/2 lb. sliced baby portobello mushrooms, divided
  ● 1 tbsp. butter
  ● 1/4 cup chopped onion
  ● 1 garlic clove, minced
  ● 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
  ● 3 tbsp. sherry or reduced-sodium chicken broth
  ● 1 tbsp. minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  ● 3/4 tsp. salt, divided
  ● 5 cups fresh or frozen peas, divided
  ● 2 cups cannellini beans (or one can)
  ● 3-1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  ● 2 tbsp. lemon juice
  ● 4-1/2 tsp. minced fresh basil or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil

Directions:
Set aside 3 tablespoons mushrooms for garnish. In a large skillet, sauté remaining mushrooms in butter until tender.

Add onion and garlic to skillet; sauté until tender. Stir in the cream, sherry, thyme and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Cool slightly. Transfer to a bowl and cream with stick blender.

In a large pot, combine 4-1/2 cups peas, cannellini beans, chicken broth and remaining salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until peas are tender (about 5 minutes). Stir in lemon juice and basil and heat through. Use stick blender to soupify.

Serve hot and topped with mushroom and cream sauce (we mixed our cream sauce in). Garnish with reserved mushrooms and remaining peas.

Nutrition Facts (from Taste of Home, not including cannellini beans): 3/4 cup soup with 2 tablespoons sauce equals 169 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 15 mg cholesterol, 612 mg sodium, 22 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 10 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 starch, 1 fat.