Pease pudding hot, Pease pudding cold,
Pease pudding in the pot – nine days old.
Some like it hot, some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot – nine days old.
However you like it, this recipe is one of my personal favorites. Pease Pudding is a Tyneside institution unlike any other. I have family across England that can’t get it anywhere else and always stock up when the visit up North!
Well, we’ve knocked up this delicious recipe so now there’s no need to make the pilgrimage! Best of all it’s a pease of p**s to make… Sorry, there had to be one pun in there, just to a-pease people. Okay, that’s all.
As an added extra we’re going to release a Ham and Pea soup recipe using this as a base. But you’ll have to wait until this weekend to get that!
Pease Pudding Recipe
This local treat is known as Geordie caviar, because it's so well liked in the area. If you haven't had pease pudding before, it's fantastic with a ham sandwich or as a base for winter soups.
Servings 8 Portions
Ingredients
- 500 g Yellow split peas
- 2 Liters Water
- 1 Large ham shank
- 2 tsp Celery salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 2 Medium brown onions (Chopped roughly)
- 2 Carrots (Chopped roughly)
- 1 Parsnip (Chopped roughly)
Instructions
- Add the 2L of water to a pan and bring to simmer
- Add all of the ingredients to the pan and simmer on a medium to high heat for 1hr
- Remove the ham and set aside (Use for sandwiches or soup)
- Boil uncovered for 30 minutes to reduce mix
- Blend the mix and return to lower heat for 15 minutes
- Portion out as you like and leave in fridge overnight. This will last around a week in a fridge.
Is this 1L of water or 2L? Ingredients and steps say different things.
Hi Kevin, sorry for that, it’s 2L.
Fo you have to soak the peas first?
Great recipe! Makes plenty too.
I make this without the Hamshank, I add stock, great recipe, takes me back to my youth, Stottie, ham and pease pudding.
Cut some of the ham into small pieces and mix in with the pease pudding and add a few green peas as well after steeping them
With ham in a stottie. Nothing to beat it!
Do I put my bag of split peas in boiling water or cold water?
Hi Betty, we don’t generally, but soaking the split peas does bring the cooking time down and won’t do any harm.
Just a thought. I don’t have a blender (well not an electric one) however I do have a strong arm and that is all I have ever used when making pease pudding. Always turns out great!
When l was at school in the North East l got 25 pence for school dinners as l hated proper school dinners so we walked along to the corner shop and every day l had packet of Tuder crisps 1/4 pease pudding and a bun and plastic carton of pop l loved my pease pudding and crisp sarnieshad this all the way through grammar school in Houghton le Spring l still make it now some on the pot as l write!!!!
Love it!! Doesn’t get more Northern that a Tuder crisp and pease pudding sarnie haha!!
it was eaten all over uk , however not now , it was sold cooked in victorian times too , in slabs , i make it but to be fare my dna says we have a fare bit of family in new castle and areas round there , we are mostly from the east midlands though and lancs and york region , it is delicious soup
My mum makes hers by putting the split peas in a muslin bag or old white handkerchief and then cooks it in with the ham. When she removes the cooked split peas she adds some of the stock to thin it out. I’ve never seen her use a blender, she just uses a fork to get the right consistency. She’s 86 tomorrow and still going strong.
My mum used to make it using a handkerchief also and cooks it with the ham in a pressure cooker. When cooked she would add some stock to thin it out and used a fork to mash and get the right consistency. I live in Australia now and i am making it the same way except I use an old cotton tea towel. Can’t buy pease pudding here!
Can this be baked to make it more of a solid than soft?
I’m just looking through my Delia Smith Christmas book looking for a pease pudding recipe to find none.
This page popped up in my search . I normally buy it in a tin which isn’t the best . I live in Australia ?? now . Can’t wait to see all the recipe posts Lots of Xmas ones please
So glad you found the recipe helpful 🙂 I didn’t think it would just be or Christmas though, it’s all year round here haha! I’ll be sure to line up some tasty Christmas treats for sure.
Just bought a ham shank & going to boil it in a large pan and cook the split peas in some muslin alongside it in the same pan, usually fasten the muslin bag to the pan handle with some string. The split peas absorb all the juices from the shank. When its cooked usually add a little if the juices to mix to a soft consistency- delicious!!!
Made this and I have to absolutely lovely. Saves me having to go up north when I get a need for it . X
Thanks for the comment, so pleased you like it!! My family are the same haha, they always stock up when they visit 🙂
A pease pudding and ham sandwich is the perfect lunch. Of course it needs to be in a stottie, yum. My daughter is quite a talented amateur baker, any hints as to how to bake a stottie?
Many thanks for the recipe!
Hi Peter, couldn’t agree more haha! Sure here’s our stottie recipe: https://www.northeastfood.co.uk/traditional-stottie-recipe/
Been missing this for ages stuck “doon sooth” with work, glad i took the time to make it! ALOT more than i expected in the end, way more than i could eat in stotties alone. No worries though, will be making the tasty Pea & Ham soup recipe tomorrow.
Cheers fella.
Just can’t be matched down South, can it! Hope you enjoy the soup, proper Northern scran.
Mam always boils the split peas in a muslin cloth,then mash them with a fork adds a knob of butter salt and pepper to taste. She’s 86 so been doing it this way quite a while ??ps always uses a ham shank then makes Broth with the stock. Always around what used to be Leek show time.
Looks amazing I’m going to try this week do you need to sock the split pees overnight for this recipe or just pop them straight in with the ham?
Hi Zoe
Yes you can soak the split peas overnight, changing water a couple of times.
It will reduce the cooking time.
I have a water bath and cook my gammon joint sous vide for 10 hrs @ 152℉.
Remove, chill and reserve the stock from the gammon.
Drain the soaked split peas, add one finely diced onion, add the gammon stock and add extra chicken stock, (or water) to cover. Simmer gently, stirring to prevent it catching until desired consistency, top up with extra stock/water if required. Season to taste with pepper or touch cayenne, NO SALT. When it’s ready, you should be able to break it down with just a potato masher, chill, ready to eat or freeze if reqd.
Enjoy
I make one but I prefer using Lentils and Bacon ribs and cook in a pressure cooker.. until the ribs are soft .. mmm love it .
I make mine in the slow cooker. I cook a smoked gammon joint and when it’s done I add the pre soaked yellow lentils to the left over liquid in the slow cooker and cook on low for several hours. When they are cooked and nice a soft I add small amounts of the cooked gammon, stir, leave to cool and voila!! Perfection
Mam used to cook a ham shank with presoaked split peas then remove the ham shank, One day soup with bits of ham. Next day the soup had set into peas pudding and was used for sandwiches with slices of the ham shank. When the ham ran out, we used to make peas pudding and beetroot sandwiches, often putting crisps in as well. Kept the family fed for at least 3 days for minimum cost.