Pease pudding with a twist

I absolutely love pease pudding - it's brilliant with gammon of course, but it's also a really lovely winter comfort-food substitute for potatoes or pasta and a lot more tasty than polenta. I'll confess that I've always been perfectly happy to buy it in a tin, but recently it seems to have disappeared from supermarket shelves so I made it myself a few weeks ago and, like most things, it's even nicer when it's homemade. And even nicer still if you give it a bit of a makeover, as I have here, and add some spices to it... Do try it and let me know what you think!

Pease pudding with a twist

175g yellow split peas
400ml hot vegetable or chicken stock
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
6 small or 3 medium beetroot
pinch of chilli flakes
one and a half tbsp balsamic vinegar (or Worcestershire sauce if it doesn't need to be vegetarian)
half tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 ripe avocados
juice of half a lime
4 tbsp low-fat Greek-style yogurt
2 tomatoes, chopped
few sprigs of coriander, chopped

Soak the split peas for an hour in cold water then drain and bring to the boil with the stock, onion and garlic. Boil for 10 mins then turn down the heat and simmer for 50 minutes, until completely soft and almost all of the liquid has been absorbed. Meanwhile, peel the beetroot and slice. Stir fry in a little olive oil with the chill flakes until just tender, then add the balsamic vinegar or Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and cook for a further minute. Set aside and keep warm.

Put the turmeric, cumin and coriander in a small pan and dry fry until they smell fragrant (about 1 min). Stir into the split peas with the tomatoes and plenty of salt and black pepper, then blitz in a liquidiser or smoothie maker until smooth.

Finally, make avocado cream by mashing the avocados with the lime juice and yogurt. Season well.

Spoon the split peas into a bowl, pile the beetroot on top and top with the avocado cream and a sprinkling of coriander.

Serves 2

If you don’t already get regular updates from A Cook’s Plot and you’d like to get an email each week when I add a new post, or if you would like to get in touch about this or any other recipe, please email me at a-cooks-plot@gmx.co.uk

Alternatively, please fill in your email address below:

Follow