Dr Mobeus
Pease Pudding and Ham Stottie
Pease pudding and ham stottie is the definitive North East sandwich, the thing every bakery around Newcastle has ready by lunchtime. Split peas cost pennies, cook down into a soft golden puree with nothing but stock and butter, and the whole portion of four rounds in at about £3.50, roughly 88p each. It is food with a long memory: pease pudding is what the medieval pease porridge of the nursery rhyme actually was, a pot of dried peas kept going on the back of the stove. The stottie is the correct vehicle, but any soft crusty breadcake will carry the filling just as happily.
Pease Pudding and Ham Stottie
Ingredients
Method
- Rinse the split peas in cold water, then tip them into a pan with the halved onion, stock cube and enough water to cover by about 4 cm. Bring to the boil and skim off any foam.
- Simmer gently for 45 to 55 minutes until the peas are completely soft and most of the water has been absorbed, topping up with a splash of hot water if the pan looks dry before the peas are done.
- Fish out the onion halves, then beat the butter into the peas and season well with salt and plenty of black pepper. Mash or blend to a soft, spreadable puree. It should be thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon.
- Split the stotties and spread the bottom halves thickly with the warm pease pudding. Layer over the ham and a grind more pepper, then sandwich with the tops.
- Serve while the pease pudding is still warm. Any leftover pudding keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be reheated with a splash of milk.
Tips and Variations
Yellow split peas are the ones to get, not green; the flavour is sweeter and the colour is right. Do not salt the peas until they are fully cooked or they will stay firm. A spoonful of the pease pudding stirred through soups thickens them nicely, and cold leftover pudding fried in a little butter until it crisps at the edges is a cheap breakfast on toast.
