This soup is made with dried peas; these generally have to be soaked overnight, though it is possible to buy some that need only a few hours' immersion. It is slightly less trouble to make the soup with split peas - which have no skins - and here there is a choice of green or yellow. 
Although there is no difference in the taste, the latter give the soup a pleasant golden colour.
4 oz/ 125 gl 1/2 cup diced pieces of cooked ham or a ham bone
1 large onion and a little fat (optional)
3 pts/ 1 1/2 lr/ 6 cups ham stock or water
cream (optional)
parsley (optional)
seasoning
(serves six)
Soak the peas as directed on the packet. Chop the onion, if used, and soften in a little fat over a low heat. Add the peas and water or stock and the ham bone if used.
Cook gently until the peas are soft - about an hour. Remove the bone and strip off any meat. This should be cut into small dice and reserved. Puree the peas in a blender or pass through a sieve. Adjust the seasoning. Add the diced ham and serve with a swirl of cream or a sprinkling of chopped parsley on top.
Click here A Little Irish Cookbook to buy the book from Amazon.com or here to buy the Appletree Press book from Amazon.co.uk. For more information of the Appletree Press title, click on: A Little Irish Cookbook.
Also from Appletree: A Little Book of Irish Baking. Click here to buy from Amazon.com, or here, for more information
And: The Irish Kitchen. Click here to buy from Amazon.com, here to get it from Amazon.co.uk, or here, for more information.
[ Back to Top | to Irish Recipes and Baking ]
All Material © 1999-2016 irelandseye.com and contributors Privacy statement
