Pea and Ham Soup is a traditional British recipe for a classic winter-warming soup of a fresh peas in a ham knuckle stock base that are pureed and warmed through before serving that's finished with a few slivers of the gammon. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Pea and Ham Soup.
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Ingredients:
1 smoked gammon knuckle
2 celery sticks
2 large carrots, halved
4 onions, halved
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 bayleaves
10 black peppercorns
salt, to taste
1.2kg frozen peas (or fresh peas)
2 tbsp butter
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
Begin by preparing the stock. Combine the gammon, celery, carrots, onions, thyme, bayleaves, peppercorns and two generous pinches of salt in a large saucepan. Pour over enough cold water to cover all the ingredients then bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook gently for 20 minutes.
At this point, use a sotted spoon to skim off any scum from the surface of the liquid. Re-cover the pan and simmer for 120 minutes more (top-up with more water as needed). At this point turn off the heat and set aside to cool.
Once the ham knuckle is cool enough to be handled, remove from the stock and slice off all the meat (trim this into bite-sized pieces and set aside in the refrigerator).
Strain the stock (discard any solids) then set aside to cool to room temperature before chilling in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. In the meantime, thaw the peas almost completely. Skim any fat from the surface of the cooled stock then combine in a food processor with the peas. Purée the mixture then pass through a fine-meshed sieve.
Turn the pea and stock purée into a saucepan and gently allow to heat through (do not boil or the soup will loose its vibrant green colour). Stir in the butter and adjust the seasonings to taste.
When hot, divide between eight warmed soup bowls. Garnish with the reserved gammon pieces and serve immediately.
