Crema de Guisantes con Jamón Serrano

There are few things more heartening than a good pea and ham soup. This recipe for “Una Crema de Guisantes con Jamón Serrano y Hierbahuerto” takes that recipe and marries the sweetness of peas with the melt in the mouth goodness of Serrano ham. As with all our Spanish recipes, we try to make them as simple as possible. Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 4. Or 2 if like me you want double helpings)

• Half a kilo of peas. I used frozen peas (as we always have a bag of them in the freezer) and they worked really well.
• 1 small leek – very finely sliced or chopped (You could use onion, but it can overpower the delicate pea flavour)
• 1 small potato – peeled and very finely diced
• About 2/3 mugful of stock. Use veggie if you’re veggies… but this is also nice with chicken stock.
• 1 tablespoon of white sugar
• A chunk of Serrano ham
• Olive oil for sauteéing
• Salt and pepper for taste

Method for Una Crema de Guisantes con Jamón Serrano y Hierbahuerto

• Very gently sweat the leek and potato in a saucepan with the olive oil. I pop a lid on it, turn the heat as low as it will go… walk away and leave it for 20 to 30 minutes.
• You will find that the leeks give out quite a bit of liquid… that’s a good thing
• Throw in the peas and stir well
• Cover again and leave to cook gently for about 20 minutes if using frozen peas, or 12 to 15 if fresh
• Don’t be tempted to leave it simmering for much longer than that, as the peas will start to lose their bright green colour and sweet flavour. You want it just long enough that the peas are becoming tender
• Season to your own taste with the salt and pepper.
• Tip it into a food processor, and blend until smooth – do that in batches if need be
• Pop it back into the pan, and bring it back up to a hot temperature for serving.
• Serve hot with a few shavings of Serrano ham on top, and perhaps a leaf of fresh mint. You might even like to pop a swirl of cream on top
• Enjoy with plenty of bread for dunking.

Elle Draper

Elle, along with Alan, is the owner of Spain Buddy and the busy web design business – Spain Web Design by Gandy-Draper.
Born a “Norverner”, she then spent most of her life “Dann Saff” before moving to Spain in 2006. Elle’s loves are Alan, the internet, dogs, good food, and dry white wine – although not necessarily in that order.