Peas and ham soup

Italiano - Español

The peas and ham soup is a real comfort food. It's not so traditional here in Italy: we learnt this recipe from our Anglosaxon friends. 
It's really easy and quite quick to make: in only 50 minutes you will get a nutritious soup. If you have a slow cooker you can put everything inside it in the morning and comfortably eat the soup for dinner. 
Thanks to the dehydratation process we can have peas on every season of the year: but you can also make this soup changing peas with fava beans, if you prefer. 

Generally, dehydrated peas do not need to be soaked: you just have to rinse, drain and place in the pot with water. Easy peasy...
We did not use freezed peas because on our opinion the soup would have been too sweet: in this case dehydrated legumes are really the best. 
We served the soup with some ham, better if smoked. 

Serves 4

• 300 g dehydrated and peeled peas
• 150 g smoked ham (one slice)
• 1 carrot
• 1 small onion
• 1 celery stalk
• 700 g water
• 150 g ricotta or other creamy cheese 
• e.v.olive oil, salt, black pepper to taste

Difficulty: easy - Time: 50 minutes

Rinse the dehydrated peas.  

Place the ham in a non sticking pot and let it brown on both side.

 Add the peas and all the vegetables (clean them before).
Cover with water (enough to submerge everything).
Bring to a boil and boil for 30 minutes.
Add about a teaspoon of salt (more or less is up to your taste).
Go on cooking for other 10 minutes.

Remove the ham from the pan: place onto a board and cube it. Set aside. 

 Use a hand-blender to puree all the vegetables and the peas. 

Place the soup into the plates. Add the fourth part of the ham into each dish and a ricotta quenelle. Season with oil and pepper. Serve warm. Enjoy!