Any Old Peas

There is something delicious about the taste of the first peas of the season. My eldest daughter particularly looks forward to the moment when they are ready as she loves to pop them straight out of the pod and into her mouth. Often the first of the peas do not make it as far as the kitchen. Although she loves the flavour of peas, she hates the texture of cooked peas so outside of the short fresh pea season she will only eat frozen peas – still frozen!

Sadly, the season is very short and during that time it is important to go out at least every other day to pick the peas otherwise they will become over mature and the plant will see that its job is done and will stop producing new ones. It is so easy to miss some pods too, low down and hidden amongst the foliage. Even if you are very careful, it is not long before the plant goes over, shrivels up and dies. At this point, the plant has one last harvest to offer – a collection of over-ripe peas, with leathery pods and mealy peas inside. Although they look unpromising they can still be used. At its simplest, they can be boiled up with a bit of bicarbonate of soda to make mushy peas. If you have a particularly large amount then they can be turned into houmous, using these peas instead of the more conventional chickpeas. A small amount of these are just perfect for a batch of pea and ham soup.

Pea and Ham Soup (serves 2)

Oil (for frying)

1-2 shallots

1 small carrot

10-15cm of celery

2 oz of cooked potato

¾ pint of vegetable stock

6 oz of old peas

3 oz chopped ham

Chop the vegetables into small pieces then heat some oil in the bottom of a large saucepan and fry the onion, carrot, celery and potato for 5 minutes. Pour the stock into the pan and add the peas and 2 oz of the ham. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and use a food processor or hand blender to puree the soup until smooth. Taste and season.  Add the remaining chunks of ham and return the soup to the pan to heat through before serving with bread and butter.