Spring Greens Fresh Pea And Ham Soup Recipes

FRESH PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the butter in a large saucepan, add the leeks and onion, and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the onion is tender. Add the chicken stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the peas and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the peas are tender. (Frozen peas will take only 3 minutes.) Off the heat, add the mint, salt, and pepper.
• *Puree the soup in batches: place 1 cup of soup in a blender, place the lid on top, and puree on low speed. With the blender still running, open the venthole in the lid and slowly add more soup until the blender is three-quarters full. Pour the soup into a large bowl and repeat until all the soup is pureed. Whisk in the creme fraiche and chives and taste for seasoning. Serve hot with garlic croutons.

GREEN PEA AND HAM SOUP RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat being careful not to burn it (if it does smoke, start again). Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. The onions should be softened but not browned.
• Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
• Add the stock, chopped parsley, the leaves from the sprig of mint, 2/3 of the peas, and 2/3 of the ham. Reserve remaining peas and ham.
• Simmer over a gentle heat for 10 minutes. The peas should be cooked and the ham warmed throughout.
• Working in batches, carefully blend the soup in a food processor until a thick, chunky soup is created. If the soup is too thin it can be reduced down next, and if too thick, add a little boiling water.
• Pour the soup back into the saucepan, add the remaining peas and ham, and heat until the peas are cooked and the ham warmed right through. Check the seasoning and add black pepper and salt as desired. Be very careful with the salt as the ham is already quite salty.

GREEN PEA AND HAM SOUP

Steps:

• Make the broth:
• Combine the hocks, vegetables, bay leaf, peppercorns, and 8 cups of water in a medium stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat to low, put the lid on, and cook at a nice steady simmer until the meat on the hocks is so tender it's almost falling off the bone, 4 to 5 hours.
• Carefully remove the hocks and put them in a big bowl. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into the bowl, and discard the vegetables and aromatics. Let the hocks cool in the liquid.
• When the hocks are cool enough to handle, pull off the meat in bite-sized chunks. Discard the bones and any hard bits and some of the fat, but don't throw away the skin-I add the skin to the soup in thin slices, along with the chunks of ham. You don't have to, but I like the way it goes sticky in the soup. You can keep the stock and meat (moistened with a splash of stock) in separate airtight containers in the fridge for up to two days. Gently warm the meat and skin before proceeding with the recipe. This recipe requires only 4 cups of stock-you may freeze the leftover stock for up to a month for your next batch of soup.
• Make the soup:
• Put the butter in a large pot that has a lid and set it over medium heat. Once the butter starts to froth, add the onion, carrot, and salt and stir. Cover the pot and cook, stirring every now and again, until the onions are soft and creamy (but not colored) and the carrots are tender but firm, about 15 minutes.
• Add the wine and bring it to a boil (turn the heat up if you need to). Let the wine boil until it's all but gone, about 5 minutes. Add the mint and 4 cups of the ham broth and bring the liquid to a boil, then add the peas. (At this point, the carrots will have bobbed to the top. I like to pick out most of the carrot chunks before pureeing the soup, then add them back after. That way, you can nibble on them in the soup, getting that bit of texture.) Cook at a simmer until the peas are warmed through and tender, about 5 minutes.
• Blend the pot's contents, in batches, until smooth. Return all the bright-green pea puree to the large pot, add the ham pieces and carrots, and cook at a very gentle simmer for about 5 minutes, just to let the flavors mingle and heat the ham. Have a taste, and season with salt. How much you need to add will depend on how salty the ham hocks are.
• Add a generous drizzle of olive oil, several twists of black pepper, and the torn mint leaves. Then add the crème fraîche in little blobs here and there, so everyone will get a bit. Serve the soup in the pot, with small bowls along-side.

SPRING PEA SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, saute potatoes in butter until lightly browned. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, 10-15 minutes. Add peas; cook until peas are tender, 5-8 minutes. Cool slightly., In a blender, process soup in batches until smooth. Return all to the pan; heat through. Sprinkle with chives and, if desired, microgreens.