Pea and ham hock soup
Make this stylish soup from John Torode, combining green peas and split peas with smoky pieces of shredded ham hock. Perfect for a starter or warming lunch
Ham, pea & polenta cakes
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- Easy
- Serves 3
Skip to ingredients
- 140g sweet potatopeeled and chopped
- 140g floury potato(such as King Edward), peeled and chopped
- 100g frozen peadefrosted
- 100g shredded hamhock
- small handful mintleaves, chopped
- zest 1 lemon
- 3 spring onionsthinly sliced
- 6 tbsp fine polentaor 4 tbsp gluten-free plain flour
- pinch of cayenne pepperplus a pinch to serve
- 3 eggsand 1 egg white
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- crème fraîcheand dressed rocket leaves, to serve
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal540
- fat24g
- saturates6g
- carbs54g
- sugars10g
- fibre6g
- protein27g
- salt1.9g
Method
step 1
Put the sweet and white potatoes into a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil, then simmer for 10-15 mins or until really tender. Drain well and mash, check the seasoning, then set aside to cool.
step 2
Tip the mash into a large bowl along with the peas, ham hock, mint, zest, spring onions, 3 tbsp polenta (or 2 tbsp flour), the cayenne pepper and some seasoning. Whisk the egg white and add it, too. Mix well.
step 3
Form the mixture into 6 cakes. Tip the remaining 3 tbsp polenta onto a plate and roll the cakes in it to coat. The mix will be quite wet at this stage, but the extra polenta will help to keep them together during cooking. Cover and chill for 15 min.
step 4
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over a medium heat. Add the cakes and fry for 3-4 mins each side or until golden and warmed through. Meanwhile, poach the remaining 3 eggs in a pan of barely simmering water for about 3 mins until the yolk is soft and the white is set.
step 5
Put the cakes on plates with a spoonful of crème fraîche, top with the poached eggs and a little cayenne. Serve with dressed rocket.
