chilled fresh pea & ricotta soup

my family came over last weekend to celebrate fathers day... well actually, fathers day was a bit overshadowed this year by my older sister getting married and my mom turning 60 all in the same week. certainly good reasons to host a dinner party! my sister played mixologist and brought over some fun cocktails and the worlds best sorbet for dessert (rachel's ginger beer sorbet from molly moon... my favorite beverage to begin with... turned sorbet! it was out of this world!!) i was responsible for dinner, which is always a pleasure to make for my family of appreciative foodies. the first course was this simple and summery chilled soup. it was certainly a crowd pleaser. with most chilled soups though (except maybe gazpacho), i tend to enjoy just a small serving along with a heftier entree or salad. maybe that's just me. maybe you want a giant bowl of this soup all to yourself, in which case it would make about 2-3 large bowls. for the fam, i made garlic shrimp sauteed in coconut oil and jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk and tossed with toasted coconut flakes... it fit perfectly with this lighter first course soup! 

chilled fresh pea & ricotta soup ~ serves 4 small portions

2 small to medium english cucumbers, cut into cubes

1 cup shelled fresh peas

1 ripe avocado 

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

1/4 cup water

1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or to taste)

1/2 cup chopped green onion tops

1/4 cup chopped parsley

small bunch mint

salt & fresh cracked pepper 

olive oil & fresh peas for garnish

combine all ingredients into a blender adding just enough water to get things moving. start with a smaller amount of mint and add more after tasting. you don't want the mint to overpower the flavor of the fresh peas, but let it present enough that it balances with the flavor of the parsley. 

chill for at least one hour to let the flavors meld. taste again and season to taste with salt & pepper. to serve, drizzle portions of soup with a teaspoon of olive oil and garnish with a few shelled peas and torn mint.