Gordon Ramsay’s pea purée is smooth, bright green and silky, made with just peas, butter and a little hot stock. It takes about 10 minutes and turns a bag of frozen peas into a restaurant-style side.
You won’t find this in his books as a standalone recipe, but it runs right through his restaurant menus. He serves it under scallops on The F Word, beneath confit duck, and alongside lamb rump. The method is the same each time: peas, butter, stock, blitzed.
The one trick that sets his apart is the finish. After blending, he sits the purée over iced water to lock in that vivid green. Skip it and the colour dulls to a tired army green within minutes.
Gordon Ramsay Pea Purée
Course: SideCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings5
minutes5
minutes190
kcal10
minutesThe smooth, vivid green purée Gordon Ramsay serves across his restaurant plates, blitzed from peas, butter and stock, then chilled fast to keep its colour. A fine-dining side in ten minutes.
Ingredients
500g frozen garden peas
50g butter
150ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
Small handful fresh mint (optional, for pea and mint purée)
Sea salt
Directions
- Boil with butter: Bring a pan of salted water and the butter to the boil. Add the peas and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until tender and bright.
- Drain, keep the liquid: Drain the peas but save the cooking liquid. You will use it to loosen the purée.
- Blend: Tip the peas into a blender. Blitz, adding the hot liquid a little at a time, until thick but smooth. Season with salt. For pea and mint purée, add the mint now.
- Sieve (optional): For a restaurant finish, push it through a fine sieve to remove the skins.
- Lock the colour: Sit the bowl over iced water and chill quickly. Warm gently in a pan to serve.
FAQs
How does Gordon Ramsay get his pea purée so smooth and green?
Two things. He blends the peas with the hot cooking liquid added bit by bit, so it loosens into a silk rather than a paste. A fine sieve afterwards removes the skins for that restaurant texture.
The colour comes from speed. He blanches the peas only 3 to 4 minutes, then chills the blended purée fast over iced water. That stops the cooking and locks the green, which is the step nearly every recipe skips.
Is this the same as Gordon Ramsay’s mushy peas?
No, and it is worth knowing the difference. This purée is smooth, blended and refined, the kind he spoons under scallops or duck. It is a fine-dining side.
His chunky mushy peas are the opposite: crushed with a fork, left rough, with chilli and mint, made for fish and chips. Same vegetable, two completely different dishes for two different plates.
Does Gordon Ramsay use cream or garlic in pea purée?
No. A lot of recipes online load it with heavy cream, garlic and shallots, but his restaurant versions do not. It is peas, butter, stock and salt, so the flavour stays clean and fresh.
The butter alone gives it the silky richness. Adding cream would mute the bright pea flavour and dull the colour, which is the exact thing he works to keep.
What does Gordon Ramsay serve pea purée with?
It is his go-to base under seafood and rich meat. He spoons it beneath his pan-seared scallops, where the sweetness matches the caramelised crust.
On his restaurant menus it sits under confit duck with charred gem lettuce, and beneath lamb rump with burnt leek. It also works with salmon or any pan-fried white fish.
Can you make pea and mint purée?
Yes, and it is a natural pairing. Add a small handful of fresh mint to the blender with the peas. The mint lifts the sweetness and gives it that fresh, spring flavour.
Keep it to a handful, though. Too much and the mint takes over, when it should just sit behind the peas, not replace them.
Can you make pea purée ahead, and does it keep?
Yes, better than you would think. The ice bath that locks the colour also helps it store well. You can make it a day ahead and keep it covered in the fridge.
Warm it gently and stir in a splash of stock to bring it back to a smooth, loose texture. Unlike chunky peas, the blended purée reheats without losing much.
