Pease Porridge

Depending on where you are from, you may not have known this is a real thing that people make and eat. I know I thought it was just a nursery rhyme until I saw it in a store (in England) in the refrigerated section alongside the cold cuts (of meat and cheese). My husband likes his pease porridge cold on ham sandwiches, which is pretty much the only reason I ever make it. I personally prefer it hot as a soup. Neither of us likes it in the pot, nine days old.

Ingredients

• 10 oz/300g yellow split peas (uncooked/dry)
• 2 TBSP/50g butter, divided
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 32 oz/1 litre water
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Rinse and drain peas, place in a bowl and cover with hot tap water. Leave to soak for 20 minutes.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in thyme and bay leaf. Drain the peas well and add them to the pot.
3. Pour over the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat until you get a gentle simmer, then simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. The peas are done when they are soft and just start to go mushy. A lot of the liquid will cook out, which is what you want, and the mixture should remain loose but not soupy.
4. Remove the pot from the heat, fish out the bay leaf and either place in the blender or use a hand blender directly in the pot to blend the peas as much or as little as you like. You could also mash them up with a fork or a potato masher, but that’s a tough job and you’ll still end up with chunks of onion.
5. While the pease porridge is still very hot, stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, the salt, nutmeg and pepper. Continue stirring until the butter is completely melted.
6. Serve warm OR to serve cold, cover the pot loosely and leave to cool to room temperature. Once cooled completely, stir well (mixture will have thickened a lot) and place in an airtight container. Refrigerate until cold. The mixture will thicken even more when cold, almost thick enough to slice!
7. Keeps in the fridge for up to a week. Serve cold or reheat to serve warm/hot.

Makes Approximately 3 Cups

Notes

• I blend the porridge so that it is about 80% pureed so that some whole peas can still easily be seen throughout, but it is more traditional to blend it perfectly smooth with no visible peas or seasonings showing in the final dish.
• I’ve never eaten this in the pot, 9 days old.