It's more comfort food- it's filling, flavorful and full of fiber. Do I have an alliteration problem? Yes.
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups dried split peas
3 cups stock
3 cups warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 ham hocks
2 large carrots, chopped
2 large celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 small fennel bulb or 1/2 a large one, chopped
4 garlic cloves, whole
teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 bay leaves
Tabasco sauce
a splash of cream
In a large heavy bottomed pot, saute the chopped vegetables in the olive oil for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the liquids, spices and ham hocks and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a brisk simmer (number 3 on my stove) and add the split peas. Cover and cook for at least one hour, up to two hours. Stir occasionally because split peas like to stick .
Remove the ham hocks and bay leaves from the pan. Use an immersion blender to blend it all into a smooth soup, or blend it in batches in your blender or food processor, CAREFULLY! If you don't have any of those gadgets, just make sure you chopped all of your vegetables very finely. Remove all of the meat you can from the ham hocks, chop it up and add it to the now smooth velvety soup. Serve with a dash of Tabasco and a splash of cream on top, along with crunchy toasted bread or croutons.
I would just like to say right off the bat, that normally I don't really eat peas, but this is one of the few ways of preparing them that I do like. Anyway, if you are neutral about peas, this recipe might get you more excited about them.
Now, yes, of course you can sit there and shell peas all day, but you'd better get really fresh-picked ones or they will be all starchy and mealy instead of nice and sweet. What I recommend is that you use a good quality brand of frozen peas (canned are right out).
Ingredients:
1 16 ounce bag of organic frozen sweet peas
1 large 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (I like San Marzano)
1 large sweet onion, roughly chopped
1/2 a small head of green or red lettuce, roughly chopped
a big handful of Italian parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, each cut in half
1/3 cup olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon of dried dill (you can use fresh if you have it, but use lots more)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon butter
In a medium saucepan, fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat along with the salt and pepper until the onions look soft.
Add the frozen peas and continue to stir for a minute or two.
Add the can of crushed tomatoes, sugar and the dill, then taste for salt and pepper to make sure there's enough. Let it come up to a bubble, then turn the heat down to medium low and cover. Cook for five minutes.
Take the cover off and add the lettuce and parsley and butter. Stir them in, then turn down the heat to a lower simmer and and cook for another five minutes.
Serve the stew with french baguette and cheese, or you can serve over buttered rice or pasta. You can also just puree the whole thing in the food processor and serve it over thick crunchy pieces of buttered toast with fresh parsley and cheese sprinkled on top.
