Hairy Bikers Pea and Ham Soup

Hairy Bikers pea and ham soup is a thick, rough blended soup of split peas and a whole ham hock. Meat Feasts calls it ham and pea soup, so a bowl lands near 300 calories after two hours, once the peas have soaked overnight.

Si and Dave call it “a velvet caress for your belly”, and it is the old fashioned soup they ate as kids. Their method splits the work across two pans, since the peas get a hard ten minute boil of their own before joining the ham.

None of that survives, though, if you skip the first boil of the ham hock. Boil it once and tip that water away, because it carries the cure salt and the scum, and no seasoning fixes it later.

Hairy Bikers Pea and Ham Soup

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Simmering Cuisine:British Finnish Courses:Soup

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 15 minutesCook time:1 hour 55 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time:2 hours 10 minutesServings:6 servingsCalories:300 kcal Best Season:Winter

Description

This Hairy Bikers split pea and ham soup simmers a ham hock with clove studded onion, bay and mace. Soaked peas thicken it without flour, then a rough blend and a spoon of hot mustard finish the pot.

Ingredients

• 300g split peas, green are traditional but yellow are fine
• pinch of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 small ham hock
• 1 onion, studded with 2 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 blade of mace
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 tbsp hot mustard
• 100ml whipping or double cream, optional
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Soak the peas: Soak the split peas overnight in cold water with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda.
2. Blanch the hock: Cover the hock with cold water, bring to the boil, then drain and rinse hock and pan.
3. Start the stock: Return it with 1.5 to 2 litres of fresh water, add the clove studded onion, bay and mace, then simmer an hour.
4. Boil the peas: Drain and rinse the peas, then boil them hard in a separate pan for 10 minutes.
5. Bring it together: Add the peas, diced onion and carrot, then simmer 45 minutes to an hour until tender. Top up with water if it thickens too much.
6. Shred the ham: Lift out the hock, discard the aromatics, then pull the meat into pieces once cool enough to handle.
7. Blend and finish: Stir in the mustard and black pepper, blend to a rough purée, then return most of the ham.
8. Serve: Whip the cream if using and fold it through, then scatter the last of the ham over each bowl.

Keywords:hairy bikers pea and ham soup, hairy bikers split pea and ham soup, hairy bikers ham and pea soup, pea and ham soup hairy bikers, old fashioned pea and ham soup

FAQs

What peas should I use, and can I use frozen ones?

Dried split peas, 300g, and the book says green are traditional while yellow work the same. Soak them overnight with bicarbonate of soda, which the book insists on even when the packet says otherwise, since skipping it costs hours.

Frozen peas work, though they make a different soup, which Make It Easy proves at 500g frozen with mint for 195 calories. Dried give you a thick winter bowl, while frozen give a fresh green one.

What ham works best?

A small ham hock, because the bone and skin give body a lean joint never will. A shank is the same thing under another name, while a 500g smoked gammon joint works at a push, though it runs saltier.

A leftover ham bone with meat clinging to it costs nothing and does the job. Meat Feasts goes further still, since its pea and pig’s trotter soup uses a trotter for the same gelatine. Their chicken noodle soup does the same with a whole bird, simmered for hours then stripped.

How do I thicken split pea and ham soup?

Probably you should not, since Meat Feasts pushes the other way and has you topping up the water as it simmers. Split peas keep swelling, so a pot that looks right at forty minutes can set solid by the hour.

If you do want it thicker, the blender is the lever, because flour appears nowhere here. The book asks for a rough purée rather than smooth, so blending longer thickens it. In a slow cooker it tightens on its own, since nothing evaporates, so start with less water. Their leek and potato soup goes fully smooth, which is the look to avoid here.

Is pea and ham soup actually healthy?

Around 300 calories a bowl, which is fair for something this filling, though the hock brings salt. The cream is where it tips, since 100ml adds roughly 75 calories a serving and the book marks it optional.

The slimming version already exists, since Make It Easy has a pea, mint and ham soup at 195 calories. British Classics goes further with a red lentil and bacon soup Si built as a quick answer to his mam’s version. Three tiers, then, though this still sits under their goulash soup at 390.

Where does pea and ham soup come from?

Meat Feasts is blunt about it, since this version is Finnish and the book reckons the Finns know their soup. That catches people out, because pea and ham reads as British through and through, yet most cold countries have a version.

The spices give it away, because mace and a clove studded onion are not a British build. Mums Still Know Best carries a Dutch pea soup that goes heavier again at a full kilo of dried peas.