Souper

Oh dear, I’ve finally succumbed to the temptation of posting a photo of last night’s dinner, but at least I didn’t feel compelled to share it with the world as seems to be de rigueur among the Twitterati.

I’m not a great cook, in fact I still limit my aspirations to mediocrity, but sometimes I hanker after something specific and have no option but to don my apron and make a mess in the kitchen.

In this instance my culinary compulsion was for pea and ham soup, a winter staple of my youth. My mum would soak dried peas overnight the add them to onion carrot and bacon ribs before the whole would simmer away to itself in a pressure cooker ready for when I got home from school.

And the great thing was that a panful would last throughout the week because it set into a gloopy mush when cold and more water would have to added, so half a pan became three-quarters, a third a half panful etc with no loss of flavour, although without much meat.

So I tried my hand at my own version of this pea green nectar using this recipe for Lancashire Pea and Ham Soup. I modified it a bit, using dried split peas instead of marrowfat and omitting the fripperies of parsley and thyme. I also used added a touch of the exotic by adding a little garlic, but the result was pretty good, even if I say so myself.

And as in days of yore, there was plenty left over to go in the freezer to slurp later in the week.