It seems French to me: peas with lettuce

Last week, I was faced with a "problem" that doesn't happen too often: serving the same vegetable two nights in a row.
Now that we are in the full swing of summer harvest, I am blessed with having to choose what to bring home, rather than being forced to "make do" with what is available. Of course, there is inevitably some overbuying as I eagerly snap up one vegetable after another, forgetting that I already have 3, 4, 5, or even 6 other ones in my bag. Then I get home and thing "Oh, dear. What do I do now?" There are only so many times your friends will be eager for a big jar of summer vegetable soup - my friends are pretty smart and can figure out what's going on - so restraint is the theme word.
What it means, fortunately, is that the vegetables we eat can vary from day to day. Never a need to repeat.
Except.... last week, we had eaten peas in one of Guy's favorite dishes: risibisi on a Wednesday night. My plan the next night, was to pan fry zucchini to put them alongside of the leg of lamb that I talked about in a prior entry, and some plain pastina with the glorious name "semini". (little seeds. I SWEAR that's what it means. Ask Jonathan if you don't believe me.). Well, when I told our guest what we were eating, asked if we could have the zucchini a different way, because his stomach had been ailing him, and he was concerned about the fried food, together with the rich lamb. I went over what was in the fridge vegetable wise, and offered all of them, not thinking for a minute he'd suggest peas.

He did. oops. Now, Guy will never have a problem eating peas two nights in a row. He LOVES them. And ultimately, neither do I. I guess I just have this "block" against doing something like that two nights in a row. Of course, we would not be having risibisi two nights in a row, but I was finding myself rebelling against the idea of just plain boiled peas. I also did not relish the idea of dicing up carrots to make little baby squares for peas and carrots (although I WILL say that there are few things better than REAL peas and c arrots. You may never use the frozen ones again).

Thinking of the things our guest likes, I recalled a recipe that I had read, years ago, in The Village Voice (it was THAT long ago: the Village Voice was actually a paper you waited for, paid for, and read cover to cover. It was GOOD. In the same way Saturday Night Live was FUNNY). I couldn't remember the recipe completely, but I do recall peas, lettuce, and butter. I seem to remember it being described as a French classic, and maybe it is. I recall NOW also having seen a recipe for a soup of green peas and lettuce. So I guess the combination is there, out there, somewhere.
Anyway, I went forward. And it was good, with two additions that I don't remember from the original: a bit of onion, and some cream.

Do any of you know this dish from the French original? I'd love to know if you do.

Start with half a stick of unsalted butter, and a lot of fresh, soft leaved lettuce. I used sucrine lettuce, but that's not all that common. You could use anything that is in the "butter leaf" family: things like Boston lettuce, or even romaine. Melt the butter in a pot and then add a few tablespoons of diced onion and cook it gently, just until the onion goes translucent. While this is happening, wash your lettuce. You don't have to be rigorous about separating it leaf to leaf, but do cut off those little bits at the end that hold heads together (and DO inspect it. Especially if you're a farmer's market junkie. I found a very large very lively snail in mine. I was kinda thrilled to see this, but Guy and our guest were not exactly thrilled to see him - or her). Shake the lettuce as dry as you can, and add it to the butter and onions, together with about a teaspoon of salt and two or three cups of fresh peas.

Watch how the lettuce just disappears in front of you, as the cells break and the water comes off. That pile of lettuce drops to a few tablespoons. The water begins cooking the peas, and after five minutes, you have your dish.

Now, if you like, you can make a nice little sauce here. Spoon out the lettuce and peas, leaving the liquid behind. Pour in about a quarter cup of cream and raise the heat, until you get a boil. This is going to reduce for about five minutes, and then you put all those vegetables back in, and let them cook for a minute or two.

Ok, we're back to adding fat to our food, but peas are really good for you. I don't know if they cancel out the butter and cream, but it sure was good with our lamb. "Tres continental," I suppose. What I KNOW is: fast, simple, and tasty. Sort of like your host on this blog....