Ham & Pea Soup: Recipe

I adore a good ham and pea soup. It’s a must make recipe at least once each winter. There is something beautiful about this humble smoky green dish, which is surprisingly fresh and filling.  Like many recipes here on The City Lane we like to mix it up – instead of using the classic split pea/plain hock combination we choose to use a smoked hock and frozen peas to give you a different flavour combination that works brilliantly.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes       /          Cooking Time: 3.25 hours 10 minutes    /          Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 smoked ham hock, ~1kg
• 500g frozen green peas
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 1 large potato, peeled and diced
• 1 carrot, cut in thirds widthways
• 1 stalk of celery, cut in thirds widthways
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 15ml vegetable oil
• 2.5L chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 mint leaves, shredded

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pot.
2. Add the bay leaf, carrot, onion, garlic, celery and ham hock and brown.
3. Add 250g of peas, the potato and mix well.
4. Add the chicken stock and allow the soup to come to the boil.
5. Reduce the heat to a simmer and leave simmering for 3 hours.
6. Remove from the heat.
7. Discard the bone, carrots, celery, and bay leaf.
8. Remove the meat from the pot, shred the meat and discard the skin and fat.
9. Add 150g of peas to the pot and blend until the soup is smooth.
10. Add the remaining peas, shredded meat and simmer for 10 minutes.
11. Serve with a sprinkle of shredded mint and some crusty bread.

Notes

Adding a potato into the soup thickens it slightly and adds creaminess to the broth. If you would like a stronger smoky flavour add 15g of smoked paprika to the broth when you blend the peas – this ensures that it will mix evenly through the soup.