When it’s raining outside, a rich hearty meal is all you need and this recipe will surely warm you up no matter how hard it’s pouring. Tuck into this insanely comforting wet-weather soup and combat those rainy day blues.
Pea and Ham Soup
This comforting soup features robust flavours. Cradle this bowl of soup in your hands as you indulge and feel the warmth from the inside out.
Ingredients
- 40 gm butter, coarsely chopped
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 ham hocks (about 800gm each)
- 750 gm dried green split peas
- 360 gm (3 cups) frozen baby green peas, defrosted
- 1 baguette, halved lengthways and cut into 5cm pieces
- 60 ml (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
Herb Butter Ingredients
-
60 gm softened butter
-
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
-
1 tablespoon thyme
-
½ garlic clove, finely chopped
Method
- Heat butter in a large saucepan over low-medium heat, add onion and garlic and sauté until tender (10-12 minutes).
- Add ham hocks, cover with cold water (about 4 litres), bring to the simmer, reduce heat to low and cook until ham is falling from the bone (1-1½ hours).
- Remove hocks from the saucepan, set aside to cool and, when cool enough to handle, remove skin and bone (discard), coarsely shred meat and set aside.
- Meanwhile, add split green peas to stock and simmer until very tender (45 minutes-1 hour).
- Add baby peas (reserve some for garnish if desired) and simmer until bright green (1-2 minutes).
- Purée in batches in a blender until smooth, add shredded ham to the soup (reserve a little for garnish if desired), season to taste and keep warm.
- Meanwhile, for herb butter, combine ingredients in a small bowl, season to taste and set aside.
- Preheat the grill to high. Place baguette cut-side up on a baking tray and grill until golden (1-2 minutes each side), then spread with herb butter.
- Serve with hot soup topped with reserved baby peas (steamed until bright green) and shredded ham.
