Just as a matter of interest, I have been reading Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book from 1978. She recommends the best way to cook peas is boil them in their pods, then serve them with melted butter in a separate bowl. You dip the pod into the butter and nibble out the peas and the outside of the pod. If that's too grand for you shell the peas but keep the pods to puree or make soup.
She's politically incorrect, nowadays, with her use in many recipes of lashings of butter and cream, but it fair "makes your teeth water". You can still get the book on Abebooks if you're interested.