I have been going through a slightly obssessive ham and pea phase of late, buying fresh peas at the market and eating them in a variety of ways from speedy dishes like peas with parma ham, spring onions, fresh garlic and lemon, to last minute soups with bacon on top. Peas and ham are perfect partners in every way, from the flavour combination of intensely savoury hamand the sweet pea, to the coarse texture of the ham contrasting with the smoothness of the pea, and the colours, green and pink dancing in your bowl, begging to be eaten.
I had seen a Heston Blumenthal recipe in the Times Online, and was keen to try it, but knew it wouldn’t be a quick affair. As much as I love what he does, I am not sure I have his dedication or stamina, at least with time being so limiting at the moment, amounting to, at most a rare evening or a weekend day. This particular recipe was from The Hinde’s Head, his gastropub, so I thought, surely, it won’t be too intense? I have also eaten there before and really enjoyed it, so I decided to give it a go.
How was it? If I had made the stock the day before it would have been very straight forward but doing it all the same day took alot of time. Especially as I started at 4pm. Was it worth it? Yes, every minute, I’d just organise it better next time. The stock was gorgeous, so savoury and I even got a secondbatch of stock from the bone, once I’d stripped the ham from it, I boiled it again with the fat that I wasn’t using, some suitable vegetables, herbs and peppercorns for a couple of hours.
The soup itself was a lovely bright green, with pancetta, ham and peas peeking through, very different to a traditional split pea and ham soup, it is much livelier, more fragrant and so very sweet. It was really substantial, bordering on a stew and would have been an ample main course.
I didn’t alter the recipe in anyway, so I’ll link to it rather than reproduce it. Enjoy!
Pea and ham soup – recipe from The Hinde’s Head, by Heston Blumenthal for The Sunday Times
Beautiful colours, food that looks this good can’t be anything other than tasty I’m sure.
Love the visuals. That is a wicked tablecloth! Will give this a try too. Thank you for sharing!
Hungry Dru
http://www.hungrydru.com
Oooh, the London particular! I have always wanted to make this. Great colour and those chunks of ham look so good. I must get aroud to making this. Cute jug too by the way!
As a complete pea-o-phobe, I’ve been trying to force myself to trying to eat them as much as possible in hope of actually making myself like them – I’m not quite there yet – but I reckon in another month or so I may be able to attempt this gorgeous soup ;)
Beautiful….my kid family would go crazy for that!!
Brilliant.
was checking out TasteSpotting (totally obsessed) and saw the picture you posted! So pretty!!!!
That looks SO delicious! I too love the pea/ham combination (another favorite is pea/ham/mint!). I have a sneaking hunch I’ll be making this this weekend…
That pea and ham soup looks nice and fresh and good!
What gorgeous colour; although I am intimidated by some of his recipes, this looks fantastic. Stamina indeed, have you seen his recipe for Chicken Tikka or Chili Con Carne? Both read like encyclopedias! Well done on this one, it looks delicious.
Full marks for effort! Good to hear that it was well worth it – it certainly looks wonderful.
Looks really fresh & vibrant. A great take on one of my favourite meals.
This looks insanely good! I am going to cook this myself some time soon. I love Heston. There. I’ve said it.
4 of my all time favourite things
1. Heston
2. Peas
3. Ham
4. British food
I like the idea of pouring the soup over the peas and ham to keep the ham and peas tasting fresh. Great idea!
This looks really delicious- I will definitely be trying! :)
Very different from (the wonderous) split pea and ham soup, but it looks like a good updated version for the summer – which is a great thing since I’m with you on the love of ham and peas.
Oh yum. Could be on the menu for next week.
Have tagged you for a meme – hope you join in.
Bron
Hello everyone! Thanks so much for all of your lovely comments. Sorry, I’ve been offline, just catching up on everything blog related now :-)
Ginger – it was delicious – thanks. Definitely worth the effort, for the stock alone!
Hungrydru – thanks!
Helen – it’s like a fresh take on the London Particular with fresh peas instead of fried split peas. I do love the London Particular also though.
Kittie – I can empathise. As a child I had nothing but hatred for peas. This is worth a try though :-)
Jen – thanks!
[eatingclub] vancouver || js – thanks!
Olga – thanks very much. I love Tastespotting, it’s a great site.
Jen (Modern Beet) – thanks and agreed. A great combination.
Kevin – thanks for your comment.
Tara – thanks! I do love watching Heston cook on tv etc. but I don’t think I have it in me to do omst of his recipes. However, having really enjoyed this I might risk some more :-)
Aforkfulofspaghetti – thanks and absolutely worth it. I recommend.
Kitchengoddess – thanks. Those words sum it up perfectly!
Thepaunch – thanks! Hpoe you enjoy it as much as I did.
Hlilary – thanks! I saw it done in a restaurant.
Donal – thanks and enjoy!
Annemarie – agreed and tihs is a lovely modern summer version.
Bron – thanks very much! Enjoy the soup :-)
Oh I LOVE those colours! And I love the whole idea of this although, like you, I’d probably start too late in the day!! I’m definitely bookmarking this to try, especially seeing as I was standing with fresh peas in my hand the other day wondering what I could make with them besides salad and risotto…
Thanks Jeanne! Enjoy and let me know how it goes. An, do start early :-) Learn from my mistakes!
This looks amazing! I have been thinking about pea and ham soup all week and was planning to make my mum’s age old recipe…but not anymore!
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