Julia Child un Par Un: Petits Pois (Green Peas) 🌞

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Last edited Thu Dec 18, 2025, 12:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Green Peas
Petits Pois

The tenderest, freshest, and sweetest peas have bright green
pods that are rather velvety to the touch. The pods should be fairly
well filled. A perfect raw pea will taste tender and sweet. As peas
mature they become larger, harder, and less sweet; but even a quite
tough pea will make good eating if it is cooked in the right way.
Choose, if possible, pods of equal size with peas all at the same
stage of development so they will cook evenly.

As we have not the space in this book to cover every aspect of
pea cookery, we have felt it would be most useful to present one
fundamental recipe each for the small tender pea, the large tender
pea, the tough pea, peas à la française, and frozen and canned peas.

AMOUNT TO BUY

One pound of small, tender peas will usually furnish about 1
cup of shelled peas.
One pound of large peas will usually furnish about 1½ cups of
shelled peas.
One cup of shelled peas will serve from 1 to 3 people depending
on your menu. We have based our recipes on 2 people per cup.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Beautifully cooked peas make a delicious separate vegetable
course, and they may accompany almost anything from eggs and
roasts to stews.

THREE RECIPES FOR BUTTERED PEAS

Each of the three recipes here is designed for peas of a
particular quality, from sweet and tender to rather tough. Pick the
recipe which corresponds to the type of peas you are to cook.

****


Petits Pois Frais à l’Anglaise
[Battered Peas I—for very tender, sweet, fresh, green peas]

Anyone who has eaten a plateful of small, tender, fresh, green
peas in Italy or France in the springtime is not likely to forget the
experience. These best-of-all peas are always cooked by blanching in
a very large kettle of boiling salted water. They are served at once à
l’anglaise, meaning they are merely seasoned, turned into a
vegetable dish, and topped with pieces of butter. This simple and
fundamental treatment preserves, unadulterated, their color,
texture, and taste.

For 6 people

3 lbs. of very tender, sweet, young, fresh green peas (3 cups,
shelled)
A large kettle containing 7 to 8 quarts of rapidly boiling
water
1½ tsp salt per quart of water

Drop the shelled peas into the rapidly boiling salted water. Bring
the water to the boil again as quickly as possible. Boil slowly,
uncovered, for 4 to 8 minutes, testing the peas frequently by
eating one. They will have more taste and be greener if they are
drained at the point where they are tender but still retain a
suggestion of texture. But this is a matter of personal taste, and
they may be boiled a few more minutes if you wish.

A colander
A heavy-bottomed saucepan
Salt and pepper
½ to 1 Tb granulated sugar (depending on sweetness of peas)

A hot vegetable dish

6 Tb butter, formed into little shells or cut into pieces
Drain the peas immediately. Place in the saucepan with the
seasonings and roll them gently over moderate heat for a moment
or two to evaporate all their humidity. Correct seasoning. Turn
the peas into a hot vegetable dish, arrange the butter over them,
and serve at once.

****


Petits Pois Étuvés au Beurre
[Buttered Peas II—for large but tender fresh green peas]

This is for the larger pea, the kind you usually nd at your
market.

For 6 people

2 lbs. large but tender fresh green peas (3 cups, shelled)
A kettle containing 7 to 8 quarts of rapidly boiling water
1½ tsp salt per quart of water
A colander

Drop the peas in the boiling salted water and boil uncovered for 5
to 10 minutes or until the peas are almost but not quite tender.
They will finish cooking later. Drain.

(*) If the peas are not to be served immediately, refresh them in
cold water for 3 to 4 minutes to stop the cooking and to retain
their color and texture. Drain.

A heavy-bottomed, 6- to 8-cup enameled saucepan
1 to 2 Tb granulated sugar (depending on the sweetness of
the peas)
¼ tsp salt
Big pinch of pepper
6 Tb softened butter
Optional English touch: 1 to 2 Tb minced fresh mint leaves
Salt and pepper

A hot vegetable dish

Roll the peas in the saucepan over moderate heat for a moment or
two to evaporate their moisture. Then roll them with the sugar,
salt, pepper, butter, and optional mint. When the peas are well
coated with butter, cover and cook over very low heat for about
10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until they are tender. Correct
seasoning, turn into a hot vegetable dish, and serve as soon as
possible.

****


Petits Pois aux Oignons
[Buttered Peas with Onions]

12 to 18 small, white, peeled onions boiled in salted water
until almost tender, OR 3 to 5 Tb minced shallots or green
onions

Prepare the peas as in the preceding recipe, but add boiled onions
or diced shallots or green onions to the saucepan with the peas
and seasonings for the nal, 10-minute cooking period.

****


Pois Frais en Braisage
[Buttered Peas III—for large, rather tough, fresh green peas]

This is for large, mature, end-of-season peas. They remain green
after cooking, become tender, and have a fine flavor though they
will look a bit wrinkled.

For 6 people

A heavy-bottomed, 2½-quart enameled saucepan
2 lbs. of large, mature, fresh peas (3 cups, shelled)
1 large head of Boston lettuce, shredded
½ tsp salt
2 Tb granulated sugar
4 Tb minced green onions
6 Tb softened butter

Place in the saucepan the peas and all the rest of the ingredients.
Squeeze the peas with your hands rather roughly to bruise them
slightly, and to mix them thoroughly with the butter, lettuce,
onions, and seasonings. Add enough cold water to cover the peas
by ¼ inch.

A hot vegetable dish

Cover the saucepan and set over moderately high heat. Boil
rapidly for 20 to 30 minutes; test the peas frequently by eating
one after 20 minutes, to see if they are tender. Add 2 to 3
tablespoons more water if it evaporates before the peas are done.
When they are tender, uncover and quickly boil off any remaining
liquid. Taste for seasoning. Turn into a hot vegetable dish, and
serve.

(*) If not served immediately, set aside uncovered. Shortly before
serving, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water, cover, and boil slowly
until the peas are well warmed through and the water has
evaporated.

****


PETITS POIS FRAIS À LA FRANÇAISE
[Peas Braised with Lettuce and Onions—for medium sized,
tender, fresh peas]

This dish is considered the glory of pea cookery; it should really
be served as a separate course and eaten with a spoon. If you wish
to have a wine with the peas, serve a chilled white that is not too
dry, such as Traminer or Graves, or a chilled rosé.

For 4 to 6 people

1½ rm, fresh heads of Boston lettuce 7 to 8 inches in
diameter
White string

Remove wilted leaves, trim the stems, and wash the lettuce heads
carefully so they will not break apart. Cut into quarters. Wind
several loops of string about each quarter to keep it in shape as
much as possible during the cooking.

6 Tb butter
½ cup water
1½ Tb granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp pepper
A heavy-bottomed, 3-quart, enameled saucepan
3 lbs. medium sized, tender, fresh green peas (3 cups,
shelled)
8 parsley stems tied together with white string
12 green onion bulbs about 1 inch in diameter OR small
white onions boiled for 5 minutes in salted water

Bring the butter, water, and seasonings to the boil in the
saucepan. Then add the peas and toss to cover them with the
liquid. Bury the parsley in their midst. Arrange the lettuce
quarters over them and baste with the liquid. Pierce a cross in the
root ends of the onions (for even cooking) and disperse them
among the lettuce quarters.

A domed lid or a soup plate

So that the cooking steam will condense and fall back onto the
peas, invert a lid over the saucepan and ll it with cold water or
ice cubes; or use a soup plate. Bring the peas to the boil and boil
slowly for 20 to 30 minutes or until tender. Several times during
this period, remove the cover and toss the peas and vegetables to
insure even cooking. As the water warms up and evaporates in the
cover or soup plate, rell with ice cubes or cold water.

Salt and pepper

When the peas are tender their cooking liquid should have almost
entirely evaporated. Correct seasoning.
2 Tb softened butter

A hot vegetable dish

Discard the parsley and the lettuce strings. Just before serving,
toss the peas and onions with the butter. Turn them into the
vegetable dish, place the lettuce around the edge of the dish, and
serve at once.

****


FROZEN PEAS

This method of cooking frozen peas gives them the character
they often lack. Use two saucepans when you are cooking more than
two 10-ounce boxes; if too many peas are cooked in one pan, the
cooking liquid will not evaporate by the time the peas are done.

For each 10-ounce package of frozen peas:
1 Tb butter
1 Tb minced shallots or green onions
¼ tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
½ cup chicken stock or canned chicken or mushroom broth,
or water

Allow the peas to thaw enough so they can be separated. Bring
the butter, shallots or green onions, seasonings, and liquid to the
boil in a saucepan. Add the peas, cover, and boil slowly for 5 to 6
minutes or until the peas are tender. Uncover and rapidly boil off
any remaining liquid. Correct seasoning.

****


CANNED PEAS

Here is a way to improve the flavor of canned peas.

For each No. 2 can of peas (1¼ lbs. or 2½ cups):
Turn the peas into a sieve and run cold water over them. Drain.
1½ Tb minced shallots or green onions
2 Tb butter
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Tb stock or mushroom broth

Cook the shallots or onions in the butter for a moment. Add the
peas and seasonings and toss them in the butter. Then add the
stock or broth, cover the peas, and boil slowly for a few moments
until the peas are warmed through. Uncover, raise heat, and
rapidly boil off any remaining liquid.

All the above from "Mastering The Art of French Cooking Vol. 1"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13014550-mastering-the-art-of-french-cooking-volume-1


Thank you Julia!
One of my favorite greens!
Love those fresh, sweet, baby garden peas!