Left-over

Do you recognize this: looking in your fridge after the holidays and discovering that there is still a lot of food left as if you're expecting to feed a whole army? Well, it happends to me each Christmas.

This time I'd planned to shop economical to prevent having left-overs after the holidays. That's why I seized the opportunity to use the mincemeat as a filling of the Yule Wreath and the cranberry sauce for the crumble coffee cake.

Among the left-overs this time, were a few leeks, carrots and celeriac. Thinking of those ingredients and the fact that it´s already freezing in Holland, I decided to make peasoup.

You must know, frost makes us Dutchies long for skating and especially for the well-known11 city ice-skating marathon.That´s 200 kilometer skating on ice from city to city. The last one was on 4 january 1997. I bet the're a few people praying for more frost at this very moment!


(copyright Geert de Jonge Media)

So, and now the peasoup. When you make it a day ahead, it gets just the right thickness. This amount is enough as a meal for 10 people. What's left can be frozen.


Peasoup

• 2 x 500 grams split green peas (dried)



• 900 grams uncooked ham or pork chops



• 3 leeks, thin slices



• 1 big carrot, small cubes



• 1 celeriac, small cubes



• 2 bay leafs



• 2 smoked sausages



• salt, freshly ground black pepper



• selery leafs



• broth cubes

Soak the split peas in 6 litre water in 8 - 12 hours. Refresh the water and cook the peas on low fire. Add the ham or porkchops and let it simmer for another hour. Add the leeks, carrot, celeriac and bay leafs. Let it simmer for another hour and leave it for a night.

The next morning, it must be a thick soup. Take the ham or the porkchops out of it and cut the meat in small cubes. Add the meat to the peasoup again and spice it with salt and pepper. Add a few broth cubes if you like. Also add the sausages and warm the soup very slowly. Before serving: add a few selery leafs.