This autumn might be giving us those epic neon sunsets that make me feel like I’m living on a movie set each time I drive home each night but it has also delivered an abundance of leaves that need to be raked up each weekend. It’s a gruelling job for a behind-the-desk during the week kind of person like myself. It’s the kind of job that needs to be fuelled by filling meals.
Meals like a bowl of Julie Goodwin’s Pea and Ham Soup.
I can’t understand why the recipe appears to have such a low rating on Julie’s website. I love how simple, tasty and richly textured the soup is. That being said, I’ve added my own variation to the recipe over the years that I’ve been making it. I double the amount of vegetables that the recipe called for – including the onions. I also use vegetable stock for half the liquid requirement of the recipe. If you like a meatier soup, use a ham hock instead of the bones. The hock also reduces the risk of there being random bone fragments left in the soup at the end. I added a bag of shredded ham to my soup after the blending step (as well as the meat from the hock… girl loves ham).
The star feature of this recipe is those frozen peas you add in the final minutes of cooking. I like the freshness they add to both the colour of the soup and its taste.
Goes without saying that you must serve this soup with buttered, crusty bread and lots of pepper.
Do you like pea and ham soup?