← Nouns Cooking · British & Irish

Ingredients

• 400 g dried yellow split peas
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 Carrot, finely chopped
• 1 Bay leaves
• 1 sprig Thyme
• 1.2 l ham stock, vegetable stock or water
• 30 g Butter
• 1 tbsp malt vinegar
• Salt
• 1 tsp white or black pepper

Method

1. Soak the split peas in plenty of cold water overnight, then drain and rinse.
2. Put the peas, onion, carrot, bay and thyme in a large pan, add the stock and bring to the boil, skimming off any froth.
3. Simmer gently, part-covered, for 1–1½ hours, stirring often towards the end, until the peas have collapsed and most of the liquid is absorbed. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick before the peas are soft.
4. Remove the bay and thyme. Beat in the butter and vinegar, or blend until smooth, and season well with salt and pepper.
5. Serve warm with boiled ham or gammon, or leave to cool and set, then spread thickly in bread rolls.

Tips

• Cooked with ham stock (traditional, often in the gammon pan) it is no longer vegetarian.
• If your water is very hard the peas may stay firm; a pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the soaking water helps.
• Malt vinegar is made from barley; use cider vinegar if you need it strictly gluten-free.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food BBC Food