Green Pea Soup, Smoked Ham and Creme Fraiche Dumplings
This is a wonderful soup in cold weather. Smokey ham and lovely soft dumplings make the perfect comfort food. Extra green peas keep the colour and the vitamins up.
Ingredients
- 250 gm celery chopped
- 250 gm onion chopped
- 250 gm carrots chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 litres chicken stock beef
- 500 gm dried green split peas
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 kg green peas frozen
- 1 whole smoked ham hock large meaty
- 1/4 cup Parsley chopped
- 30 gm butter
- 40 ml olive oil
Creme Fraiche Dumplings
- 100 gm butter melted
- 100 gm creme fraiche
- 4 whole eggs
- 270 gm plain flour 1 3/4 cups
- 1 bunch chives chopped
- 5 gm salt and pepper
- 1 litre chicken stock to cook the dumplings
Instructions
- Add a little oil to a large pot ( or pressure cooker)and add the onion,celery,carrot, garlic and sweat till soft.
- Add the ham hock bay leaf and green split peas with 2 litres of stock.
- Put the lid on and simmer gently for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or 45 minutes in a pressure cooker. ( Until the ham is falling from the bone and the peas are mushy)
- Remove the hock and discard the skin and bones . Break the meat up with two forks or chop it with a knife . Set aside keeping warm
- Put the frozen peas into the soup and bring up to the boil, just so the peas defrost then puree till very smooth.
- Add the meat and dumplings to the soup or serve on top separately.
Dumplings
- Put the eggs , butter, creme fraiche, flour and salt and pepper into the food processor with chopped chives. Blitz just till incorporated, pour this sticky dough into a container and refrigerate for up to 1/2 hour or longer to rest. (These can be made ahead of time and reheated in the soup or in stock).
- Form small balls with damp hands, then drop 1/4 of them into boiling chicken stock or soup until they float. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and cook another batch . These are also great tossed with ham hock and tomato sauce and covered in cheese.
- Serve the soup with the ham meat and dumplings on top with lots of parsley.
Notes
You can cook the soup and ham in a pressure or slow cooker
1. If needed reheat ham and dumplings- toss them both into a shallow pan with a little stock till warmed through, then spoon onto soup
2.The dumplings are also great tossed with ham hock and tomato sauce and covered in cheese.
1. If needed reheat ham and dumplings- toss them both into a shallow pan with a little stock till warmed through, then spoon onto soup
2.The dumplings are also great tossed with ham hock and tomato sauce and covered in cheese.