Pease pudding is a traditional British recipe hailing from northeastEngland.It is not a pudding in the dessert sense of the word but is a savory dish that is served with cooked meats, most commonly boiled hamor gammon (cured hind leg of pork). Cold, leftover pease pudding can also be fried.
A pease pudding is made from cooking yellow split peas into a lovely soft paste-like consistency. The dish is not unlike the famous mushy peas, also much loved in the North and made with dried marrowfat peas—though you would never fry mushy peas, as they are too soft and do not hold their shape.
Pease puddingis also known locally as pease pottage or pease porridge.This recipe comes from celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's Gammon with Pease Pudding and Parsley Sauce.
What You'll Need to Make This Easy Pease Pudding Recipe
A Handy Dandy Vegetable Peeler
A Nice Saucepan
A Zippy Immersion Blender
"The Easy Pease Pudding was an easy preparation and came out nice and thick. The malt vinegar, butter, and seasonings delivered excellent flavor. I soaked the peas overnight, and they were done cooking within an hour, and I kept them on very low heat until most of the liquid had evaporated. They were perfect." —Diana Rattray
Drain the soaked yellow peas and pour them in a saucepan.
Add the onion, carrot, and bay leaves, and cover with cold water. Bring the peas to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer gently for an hour or until the peas are tender. Occasionally skim off any scum that rises to the surface.
Remove the onion, carrot, and bay leaves from the pan and add the peas to a blender. (You can also keep the peas in the current pot/pan and use an immersion blender.) Blend to a thick puree, but do not over mix as the peas do not need to be smooth.
Pour the peas into a clean pan. Add the malt vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Gradually beat in the butter a cube at a time. Keep the pease pudding warm until ready to serve. The pudding will thicken as it cools and thins again when hot. If the pudding becomes dry, add boiling water a little at a time, taking care to not make the pease too thin. Serve with a thick slice of cooked ham or a gammon steak and parsley sauce.
Use Caution When Blending Hot Ingredients
Steam expands quickly in a blender, and can cause ingredients to splatter everywhere or cause burns. To prevent this, fill the blender only one-third of the way up, vent the top, and cover with a folded kitchen towel while blending.
The peas are done when soft and most of the water has evaporated. Watch the peas carefully near the end of the cooking time and stir to prevent sticking.
Skewering the onion quarters with a few toothpicks will make them easier to remove when the peas are done.
To cook the peas, start with about 3 1/2 to 4 cups of water, or a depth of about 1 inch above the peas. If the water evaporates before the peas are done, add more in small amounts.
How to Store Pease Pudding
Refrigerate pease pudding in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
To freeze, transfer the pudding to an airtight container or zip-close bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Recipe Variations
Cook the peas with a leftover ham bone or smoked ham hock.
Add a clove of garlic to the peas.
Remove only the bay leaves and carrot. Process or mash the cooked peas and onion together along with the malt vinegar, butter, and seasonings.
Pease Pudding Nursery Rhyme
In case you are in any doubt about the popularity of pease pudding, the traditional dish even has its own nursery rhyme.
"Pease pudding hot! Pease pudding cold! Pease pudding in the pot Nine days old."
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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
172
Calories
9g
Fat
20g
Carbs
4g
Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories
172
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 9g
11%
Saturated Fat 3g
16%
Cholesterol 11mg
4%
Sodium 304mg
13%
Total Carbohydrate 20g
7%
Dietary Fiber 4g
14%
Total Sugars 10g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 4mg
21%
Calcium 33mg
3%
Iron 2mg
9%
Potassium 280mg
6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Traditionally pease pudding is served with pork and was often cooked in a muslin with the ham. My version is vegetarian, it's really good hot with roast vegetables and leafy greens or cold in a sandwich – much in the way you might use houmous. If you eat meat, search out a stottie and some good quality ham.
A pease pudding is made from cooking yellow split peas into a lovely soft paste-like consistency. The dish is not unlike the famous mushy peas, also much loved in the North and made with dried marrowfat peas—though you would never fry mushy peas, as they are too soft and do not hold their shape.
Generally, recipes for pease pudding involve steeping soaked split yellow peas in stock (traditionally ham hock stock) and cooking them for around 40 minutes. The resulting mush is then blended with other ingredients, which depend on the variation.
Pease pudding is claimed to originate from the medieval era and the name a connotation of the yellow split-peas from which it is made, however its resurgence from the 1820's linked to the growth of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and industry such as coal mining associated with the railway has led to another ...
After using pease pudding as a healthy pastry alternative, I decided to try that as a base ingredient. That means the wraps are healthy, vegetarian and best of all low-calorie! The wraps are even gluten-free, around 85 calories each and go amazing with ham and cheese, hot or cold.
Pease pudding is often served with ham (I think Yorkshire breaded ham is ideal, as in the featured image), with ham hock, with gammon (it was originally a way of making a very small piece of gammon go a far as possible). Leftover pease pudding can also be fried.
Pease Pudding started off as Pease Pottage or Pease porridge. Pease is the middle English word for Pea. The name Pease Pudding refers to a type of porridge made with Yellow Split Peas. Fresh peas were never used as they would spoil quickly hence why the dry, yellow split pea would be favoured.
The name refers to a type of porridge made from peas. Today it is known as pease pudding, and was also known in Middle English as pease pottage. ("Pease" was treated as a mass noun, similar to "oatmeal", and the singular "pea" and plural "peas" arose by back-formation.)
Usually served alongside pub fare such as fish and chips or hot meat pies, mushy peas occupy the space typically reserved for coleslaw on a lunch plate in American restaurants.
Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while — hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." The resulting stew was called "pottage," and it was the basic element of the peasant diet.
In the North East, pease pudding is a hugely popular dish. The first thing we have to clear up is this: pease pudding is NOT mushy peas. You wouldn't combine pease pudding with fish and chips any more than you'd put mushy peas in a sandwich – yuck.
Our pease pudding is made with boiled yellow split peas that are seasoned with ham stock and salt and pepper to create our simple yet tasty spread. Pease Pudding is a great accompaniment to ham or sliced gammon.
The earliest record of the rhyme was circa 1760 and its exact meaning is unknown. ' Pease' was a type of porridge made from peas which doesn't sound particularly appetising to our modern palate but was probably a very welcome warm meal back then. "
Food historians generally agree the first puddings made by ancient cooks produced foods similar to sausages. The British claim pudding as part of their culinary heritage. Medieval puddings (black and white) were still mostly meat-based.
Leftover pease pudding also reheats well in a microwave. Put in a bowl and cover with clingfilm then heat on full power for about two and a half minutes. It does not freeze well, however.
Normally, it is served cold, chilled straight out of the refrigerator. However, it is a matter of taste. If you prefer it at room temperature or even hotter, you can certainly eat it that way. Tradition doesn't stop you from preparing or eating something in a different way.
Like your homemade stovetop pudding, it can be eaten warm or cold, but unlike that pudding, you can change the texture from rich and creamy, to thick and mousse-like with one simple tweak.
You can use the peas in rough purée form, but if you want a very fine, smooth purée, push the mixture through a fine sieve. Stir in the butter and chopped mint leaves (if using) until all the butter has melted and is incorporated into the purée. Serve minted pea purée warm alongside your favorite meat or fish dish.
Introduction: My name is Chrissy Homenick, I am a tender, funny, determined, tender, glorious, fancy, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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