Finnish Creamy Pea Soup Food

FINNISH SUMMER SOUP

Steps:

• Heat water to boiling in a medium pot; add potatoes. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
• Add salt, pepper, butter, onions, carrots and green beans; simmer until tender then add peas.
• In a small bowl, stir together half-and-half and flour until smooth; stir into the simmering vegetables. Cook, stirring constantly until the soup is slightly thickened. Serve immediately.

FINNISH PEA SOUP IN A SLOW COOKER

Steps:

• Place peas in a large pot and cover with water. Let soak, 8 hours to overnight.
• Place pot with peas and soaking water on high heat and bring to a boil. Cook for about 5 minutes, and remove any foam that forms. Drain and set peas aside.
• Fry pork in a skillet over medium heat until slightly pink in the center, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine 6 cups water and chicken bouillon cube in a pot. Bring water to a boil to dissolve the bouillon cube.
• Add peas, cooked pork, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, smoked salt, parsley, thyme, black pepper, marjoram, and bay leaf to a slow cooker. Pour bouillon in last.
• Cook on Low for 7 hours, then on High for 2 hours more. Serve with mustard alongside.

FINNISH DRIED PEA SOUP (HERNEKEITTO - FINLAND)

Steps:

• Rinse and remove unwanted pieces from the peas. Cover with cold water and let soak overnight.
• Afterwards, drain and rinse the peas. Peel the onion and stud it with the cloves. Put everything into the pot with the peas. (Use fresh water for the 8 cups, not the soaking water.).
• Bring to a boil; cover, lower heat, and let simmer until they are very soft, about 2 hours, stirring often.
• Remove meat from soup. Trim it from the bones, cutting into small pieces. Return it to the soup.
• Salt to taste and serve. (I must add, however, that the listed amount of salt could be too much for some people, let alone adding more at this point. However, I've included the amounts listed by the author because she says that Finnish food is very salty. Use your own judgement.).

FINNISH SPLIT PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Put the split peas in a bowl with the bicarbonate of soda. Cover with cold water and leave to soak overnight.
• Put the ham hock in a large saucepan, cover it with 1½-2 litres/2½-3½ pints cold water and bring to the boil. As soon as it has reached boiling point remove from the heat. Drain, wash the ham hock and the pan to get rid of any starchy foam.
• Put the ham back in the pan and cover with water again. Add the whole onion studded with cloves, mace and bay leaves to the pan. Bring to the boil, then simmer for an hour.
• Rinse the split peas and put in a saucepan, bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes. Drain the peas and add to the ham hock pan along with the chopped onion and carrot. Simmer until the peas are tender, this should take 45 minutes to 1 hour. Top up with more water if needed.
• Remove the ham hock, whole onion, bay and mace. Break up the ham hock, discarding the skin and bone and pull the meat into pieces.
• Add the mustard to the soup and season with salt and pepper. Use a stick blender to blend to a rough purée, add the ham hock meat back into the soup and warm through.
• Lightly whip the cream, if using, and fold gently into the soup. Serve with chunky bread.