Pea and Ham Soup

We had some spare Joselito ham stock that I made a few months ago in the freezer, and the quest continues to use up stuff before we move. We were just some peas and pancetta away from throwing this one together.

I have reprinted this Heston Blumenthal recipe as it appears in the cookbook "Off Duty", I skipped the ham hock stock (because I already had ham stock), but I did miss out on the chunks of ham coming off the bone to be put into the soup, which probably would have rocked.

Anyhow, it came out a nice, smooth soup with some good bacon-y notes. I threw some of our fresh basil in, adding a nice cool herb note to it (mint would have worked well here, too).

Anyhow, not bad for something we needed to throw together in about 15 minutes. Yummy.

SOUP
50 g butter
200 g shallots, sliced
75 g pancetta, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
500 g frozen peas, defrosted
salt and freshly ground black pepper

HAM HOCK STOCK
1 small onion, cut in half
1 large carrot, cut in half
1 stalk celery, cut In half
1 large leek (white part only), cut in half
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
4-6 sprigs thyme
4 black peppercorns
1 ham hock
2 liters water

GARNISH
2 smoked bacon rashers, cut into 1/2-inch dice
180 g frozen peas

Combine all the ingredients for the ham hock stock in a large, heavy-based pan and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Skim any scum from the surface, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 2 1/2 hours, until the ham hock is cooked. Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then strain through a fine sieve, reserving the ham hock. Set aside.

To make the soup, heat the butter in a large pan, add the shallots, pancetta and garlic and sweat for 10-15 minutes, until the shallots are tender. Add the ham stock, bring to the boil and skim any scum from the top. Add the peas and return to the boil, then puree in a liquidizer (blender). Pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan, bring to the boil and correct the seasoning.

Shortly before serving, fry the diced smoked bacon in a hot pan until crisp. Flake the meat from the reserved ham hock. Cook the peas in boiling salted water until tender, then drain. Divide the peas and ham between 6 soup bowls, pour the soup on top, then scatter over the bacon and drizzle over a little of the rendered bacon fat.