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| Pea & Ham Soup by Feed Your Inner Cook |
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| Pea & Ham Soup by Feed Your Inner Cook |
500 gram Green split Peas - (dried) these need to be soaked overnight as per instructions below
splash of Olive Oil
2 onions - chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
500 gram bacon chopped into chunks or use the precut bacon cubes
1 Ham Hock (I use the bacon/hock combination as I think 2 ham hocks becomes too salty - up to you how you want to add the ham)
Water
handful red lentils
1 bay leaf. Remember to discard later on
teaspoon peppercorns
teaspoon Caraway seeds (optional)
teaspoon celery seeds (Optional)
3 large stalks celery - roughly sliced
PLUS reserve a few of the soft inner green leaves for garnish later
3 carrots - roughly chopped
Few good stalks of flat leaf parsley - chopped
2 teaspoons dried mint
2 - 3 cups frozen green peas (allow to defrost)
1/2 bunch fresh mint - leaves roughly chopped
options: splash Worchershire sauce, Ground Pepper, Salt
How to soak the peas
Rinse the peas and discard any little pebbles etc. Very unlikely but good to check.
Use a very large bowl - tumble in the peas and cover generously with water.
Cover with a clean teatowel
Leave to soak overnight or minimum 8 hours. Frothy scum is normal and will rinse away.
Drain and rinse well - may need to rinse several times. Peas are now ready to cook.
Method
Heat a very large deep saucepan/pot on the stove and warm a splash of oil
Crisp the bacon pieces and remove for later.
Add the onions and stir to soften
Stir in the garlic
Carefully add at least 2 litres of water then add the drained soaked peas. Bring to a boil then rapid simmer 30 minutes. I like to cook the peas well before adding the salty hock so they soften and cook .
After 30 minutes, add the ham hock, bay leaf, seeds, peppercorns, red lentils, celery and carrots and extra water (at least 1 litre - probably 2)
Slowly simmer the soup for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Taste and check the peas are super tender and falling apart.
You may need to add a little more water if necessary.
Remove and discard the bay leaf.
Remove the ham hock and take skin off. Roughly shred the meat from the bone.
Add dried mint and the shredded ham hock meat along with the cooked bacon pieces.
Stir in the defrosted green baby peas and the parsley.
Simmer a little more. Then taste.
Add to your taste (options) - more ground pepper, a splash of Worchershire Sauce, a little salt.
Add in the roughly chopped fresh mint and reserved celery inner green leaves just as you turn off the heat.
Remove some of the meat pieces and vege pieces before blending if you want the soup to have a chunkier consistency.
I use a handheld immersion stick blender and puree most of the soup - keeping it in the pot in the sink. That is why I use such a deep pot (and an apron!) if you keep the head of the blender under the soup it shouldn't splash. Turn it off before removing it from the soup.
Taste again - adjust if needed. Add hot water from the kettle if too thick. Add any reserved meat, vegetable chunks back to the soup.
Serve into warmed bowls, or hollowed out bread rolls.
Garnish with mint leaves or bacon pieces or dollop or sour cream or fried chorizo for a change. A tiny squeeze of lemon juice is a zingy option too.
To Freeze
Allow the soup to cool. Package into freezer safe containers (and label) - portion sizes make for simpler defrosting later. I freeze my soups when they are quite thick and add water later as takes up less room in the freezer.
To use later: defrost preferably in the fridge overnight - use an extra tray to avoid leaks .
then use a saucepan to gently reheat the soup. (although I have sometimes reheated from mostly frozen). Refresh the flavour with fresh mint garnish or a squeeze of lemon juice.
Enjoy! Colleen
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