Pea & Ham Soup (‘Snert’ in Dutch, which is my mother’s heritage) was a staple of my childhood, and remains a staple each winter now as an adult. Pea & ham soup was Mum’s speciality, and she’s taught me well!

All you need is a slow cooker, a ham hock, some green split peas and then just any veggies your love!

Serves ~8

Time – 8 hours in the slow cooker

Ingredients:

• 1 ham hock (free range – I love Sherwood Rd Organics)
• 2 cups split green peas
• your favourite veggies for slow cooking, I used:
  • about 4 stalks celery
  • 1 celeriac
  • some small parsnips
  • the stalks of my broccoli (and some of the flower too)
  • some cauliflower florets
• You can also use – potato, carrots, sweet potato, spinach etc.
• 2-3 cups broth + hot water to cover
• Optional to servie – Dutch or German Wurst (sausage) + rye sourdough.

Method:

1. Place everything in your slow cooker and top with hot water to cover. Give it a stir.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. Remove the ham hock with a pair of tongs and shred the meat on a chopping board.
4. Remove some of the stock using a ladel (if you feel there is too much) and reserve.
5. Use a stick mixer (aka immersion blender/soup stick) to blend what’s left in the slow cooker together, allow the pea & ham soup to still remain a little chunky. Add some of the reserved broth if you feel you need.
6. Return the shredded ham meat to the soup and stir through. Season the soup as required (salt/pepper)
7. Grill the wurst sausage and slice.
8. Serve each bowl of pea & ham soup with a few slices of wurst and some rye soudough.