Following on from the previous post about soup weather, another soup that I made recently is pea and ham soup.
One of my dad's favourite things to eat is gammon. If we were to take him for a pub lunch he would mostly have gammon with egg and chips. At home we usually have a small smoked gammon joint that you simply bake in the oven, roasted in an old fashioned enamel roaster just like Mum used to use for the Sunday roast every week. (I spotted one of them in a local charity shop in immaculate condition for 75p a while ago and it's been in regular use ever since.)
When the weather turned chilly again we reverted to comfort food and had cauliflower cheese and mash with our gammon joint. There is a generous amount of meat on these joints and the leftovers can be used in a multitude of ways - not least of which sliced, in a excellent ham, cheese and pickle sandwich. The other thing it's good for is soup.
I cut the gammon into thick slices then small dice. Most went into the pot and I reserved a few for garnish when the soup was cooked. The quantity of meat does not need to be precise and you can use more or less any kind of cooked ham.
It was delicious!
Ingredients
About a third (250g) of a small gammon joint, cooked, or a couple of slices of thick ham
350g frozen peas
1 medium potato
1 medium onion
1 vegetable stock pot
Method
Peel and chop the onion and potato. Chop or cut the gammon or ham into small dice.
Tip the peas into the machine, then the chopped potato and onion. Reserve a few bits of meat for garnish if you like, otherwise add all of it to the machine with the stock pot.
Cover with water to the lower line. Season with pepper (ham is quite salty enough) and cook on smooth.
Add a swirl of cream or crème fraîche and a sprinkle of chopped parsley before scattering the reserved chopped ham on top. Otherwise just dig straight in!
Serves 4 generously.
