Pea, Ricotta ad Mint Gazpacho えんどう豆、リコッタチーズとミントのガスパッチョ

We are having very hot and humid weather with customary severe thunderstorms in the afternoon. When my wife saw the recipe for nice fresh green pea gazpacho on the Washington Post website, she had to make it. We happened to have mint growing in our herb garden. We also had all the other ingredients except parsley so we made this without the parsley. This is a refreshing rich gazpacho with the peas (we used frozen baby peas) imparting a somewhat grassy taste which was not unpleasant. We topped it with our favorite Spanish extra-version olive oil. (Shown as the darker green in the pic).

Ingredients:
4 mini-cucumbers, seeds removed and cut into cubes (14 ounces total)
Flesh of 1 ripe avocado, cut into chunks
2 cups frozen baby green peas
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped scallions (white and green parts)
1/4 cup water (we used chicken broth)
(We omitted parsely)
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
1 clove garlic
Fine salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, for serving

Directions:
Prepare the peas. Since they were frozen we simply thawed them in a bowl with some hot water. In a Vitamix, combine the cucumber, avocado, peas, ricotta, scallions, water, chopped mint, lemon juice and garlic and puree until smooth. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and blend again, just to incorporate. Taste, and add more lemon juice, as needed.

We served this in a small bowl. The puree had a thick consistency which made us think of a pea smoothy. We made it a bit more soup-like with the addition of milk (or cream) and a drizzle of oil.  The pea and avocado flavors dominated. As mentioned the overall flavor was a bit grassy but it tasted more fresh than unpleasant. A great way to eat your veggies in the hot humid summer.