Ham Hock and Pea Soup

A few weeks ago in the local butchers I was browsing to look for something new. I spied a 1.4kg ham hock. I normally buy gammon but having never actually cooked a ham hock before I decided to buy it. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it but figured I'd think of something.

I decided to made Ham Hock and Pea soup. I normally buy a cut of gammon for this but knew that the ham hock being on the bone would produce a better stock. The Bloke noticed the difference immediately saying it the best ham soup I've made. I had to agree. It was better - delicious in fact. And once you have gone through the soaking of the ham overnight and boiled the meat - the soup takes no time at all. And the ham hock only being £2.47  (and enough to make 2 different meals, the next of which I will put up later this week) made the soup very cheap indeed!

The best way is to soak the ham overnight on a Friday night to remove the salt. Cook the ham on the Saturday and refrigerate. On the Sunday morning remove any fat from the stock and shred the meat for the soup. Its a few days, true, but its an easy thing to do in the background and will have you looking forward to the best soup ever!

Ingredients:    (Makes enough soup for 4)

1 ham hock (1.5kg or so)
4 bay leaves
25g butter
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 potato chopped
1 small carrot, sliced thinly
500g frozen peas
100ml double cream
parmesan (to finish)
black pepper

Soak the ham hock in a large pot of water overnight to remove the salt and drain the next morning. Put the ham back in the pot, fill with fresh water and the bay leaves and boil for 2 1/2 hours. Leave the ham to cool in the stock before removing, reserving the stock into a jug. The fat will rise to the surface to be removed. Shred the ham and put 1/3 into one container (all you need for the soup). Put the other 2/3 of the ham into another container for another use.

To make the soup, fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes and then add the potato and carrot. Cook on a medium heat stirring to prevent sticking. Then add the peas and 1 litre of the reserved stock. Bring to the boil and simmer, partly covered, for 20 minutes. Lower the heat, add the cream and season with just black pepper (no salt needed). Blitz with a hand blender, leaving a few chunks of peas un-pureed for texture. Add the ham and stir through. Serve hot with parmesan grated or shaved on top and with buttered brown bread.

Note: The remaining shredded 2/3 of the ham I plan to use for something else - I do have an idea.. and will put up on the blog soon!