Best Black Eyed Pea Soup With Ham Recipes

SLOW-COOKER HAM AND BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Spray 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
• In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery; cook and stir 5 to 6 minutes or until vegetables soften. Add garlic and thyme; cook and stir 1 minute. Transfer to slow cooker.
• Add broth, black-eyed peas and ham hock to slow cooker.
• Cover; cook on Low heat setting 7 to 8 hours or until meat on ham hock is tender and easily separated from bone.
• Remove ham hock. Remove ham from bone; discard bone. Shred ham; return to slow cooker, and stir.
• Skim off any excess fat from top of soup. Add parsley, and serve.

BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP WITH HAM HOCKS AND CREME FRAICHE

Steps:

• Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once hot, add the onions, bell peppers and celery to the pan and cook until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the ham hocks and peas, and saute for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bay leaves to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the ham hocks and peas are tender, about 3 hours. Remove the ham hocks from the soup and set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the skin and bones. Discard skin and bones and return the meat to the pot, along with the Essence, salt, and pepper. Return the soup to a boil, then serve, with each bowl of soup garnished with 1 tablespoon of creme fraiche and chopped chives.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William Morrow, 1993.

BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP WITH HAM AND WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into a deep skillet or casserole and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the meat and cook, stirring, for a minute; then add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens and begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the peas and 4 cups water and bring to a boil; turn the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the peas are completely tender--10 minutes for cooked or canned black-eyed peas, about 30 minutes for frozen.
• Stir in the watercress and cook, stirring occasionally, for just a couple of minutes, or until it wilts. Add more water, if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning, stir in the remaining tablespoon oil, and serve.
• With Minimal effort: The meat can be prosciutto or ham; you can use bacon or pancetta instead, but cook them a little longer. Instead of onion, you can use garlic, leek, or shallots. Black-eyed peas are the traditional choice, but any legume will work perfectly well. For the watercress, substitute arugula or spinach, or any winter green, like kale, mustard, collards, and turnips, all of which will take a little longer to cook--add them to the soup along with the peas. Liquid condiments, like Tabasco or another hot sauce or vinegar, are good here. Increase the amount of meat to 1/2 pound or so (this is especially good with ham), double the amount of greens, and cook the soup until it's thick; you can call it a stew.

BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Sort through the peas and pick out any pebbles or other debris. Rinse the peas under cold water. Put the peas in a 5-quart Dutch oven and cover with 5 cups cold water. Place over high heat and bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, cover and let peas soak for 1 hour.
• Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to cool. When cool, crumble the bacon and set aside. Add the oil to the skillet with the bacon fat Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the collard greens and garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add the vegetables to the Dutch oven along with the chicken broth, ham hock, crumbled bacon, rice and 4 cups water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, until the peas and rice are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Remove the ham hock from the Dutch oven. Discard the skin and bone. Chop the meat into small pieces and return it to the Dutch oven. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

BLACK EYED PEA SOUP WITH HAM AND GREENS

Steps:

• Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat; add onions, ham, carrot and garlic.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft; add collards, broth, water, bay leaf and red pepper flakes to saucepan and simmer until greens are tender, about 25 minutes.
• Rinse and drain black eyed peas; semi mash one can of peas in a bowl; add those peas and other can into soup and simmer 5 minutes; season to taste with salt and pepper; stir in vinegar.
• Don't omit the vinegar by the way. It truly adds something to it and gives it a much more southern taste for lack of a better way of putting it.