Potato soup with ham hock and petit pois (garden peas)
This vegetable-loaded potato soup with ham hock and petit pois features the traditional potato and meat with a twist of adding the smoke flavor that is so uniquely tasty.
Place a larger pot over medium heat. Add the pork ribs together with the finely chopped leek and onions. Use a little drizzle of oil if you fancy a little frying and cook for 5 min stirring occasionally. I use a sprinkle of water instead of oil.
Add the remaining chopped or cubed vegetables (1 carrot, ½ courgette, 2 celery sticks, 2 long Turkish peppers, and the roughly cut potatoes. I usually cut those into 8 or 12 chunks depending on their size. Allow these to cook with some salt for a further 3-4 min. Stir every minute or so.
Add the vegetable stock (or the water), and the bay leaves. When it reaches the boiling point turn the heat slightly down to keep it to a nice bubbling point. Cover and cook for 40 minutes.
After the 40 minutes, uncover, add some salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. If using gammon or any salty meat you may reduce the amount of salt or add none at all.
Add the cooked ham hock, the garlic, and the frozen peas. Allow to boil for a further 10 min uncovered. Add the herbs at the end and serve with some nice crusty homemade sourdough or any crusty bread.
Notes
• You may use oil to drizzle and shallow fry your onions and meat in step 1. I avoid using oil or butter in any recipes that contain meat. I just don’t find it unnecessary, but this is me. It’s not a fuss but just a habit that built over the years. I do avoid frying in all my cooking as I haven’t been doing this for over two decades.• I mentioned Turkish peppers - see this recipe to visualize those - they are used to grill for BBQs - some can be a little hot too, the darker the spicier they are.