Pea porridge is a tasty, healthy, but almost forgotten dish that many people remember for the most part only from their childhood. Although, if you add to this porridge some ingredients, it can become almost a delicacy.
In addition, peas contain vitamins A, B, C, many trace elements, antioxidants, amino acids and is rich in easily digestible protein, and also helps with problems with digestion.
And pea porridge is almost impossible to spoil - even just boiled on the water, it pleases with its taste, especially in the case of its proper preparation, which is not at all difficult.
The proportions of peas and water for a good pea porridge
First of all, before you put the pea porridge to cook, you need to sort the peas and remove the spoiled grains from it, and then rinse the grits well in running water and then pour it in a saucepan in the ratio of 1 part pea to 4 parts of water.
But this implies the subsequent soaking of the cereal for several hours, or even nights. As a result of this, peas will not only cook faster, but also melt, and as a result porridge will turn out to be a pleasant puree-like consistency.
How to cook pea porridge on the water: a classic recipe
Peas are set to be cooked in the same water in which he was soaked before, and the dishes in which the porridge will be cooked must necessarily be with thick walls and a bottom, and it will also require constant stirring of the cereal during cooking, since it burns easily.
After the water in the pot boils on medium heat, it should be removed to a minimum and leave the porridge to cook until ready. It usually takes from half an hour to an hour: it depends on how long the peas were soaked and what quality it was originally.
To find out that the pea porridge is ready, you can as the contents of the pan - whole peas boiled soft and began to resemble mashed potatoes.
If desired, it can be further kneaded.
After the classic pea porridge on the water is ready, you can add different ingredients to enrich the taste in it - fill with butter or fried in onion with this oil. As additives, there can be browned carrots and onions, fried mushrooms or cracklings, pieces of fried or boiled meat, chopped greens, vegetables, etc.
In fact, in the pea porridge you can add whatever you want, in combination with the taste of the peas, you still get a good option. One of the most refined is porridge with the addition of heavy cream (after cooking), but at the same time it is very high in calories.
How to cook pea porridge in water with meat
This dish can easily become permanent on the table, because the peas in and of themselves are already very satisfying, and in combination with meat you get an incredibly nutritious and tasty dish. This porridge is cooked with a slightly different ratio of peas and liquid, because it should be thick and requires a very small set of products.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of peas;
- 4-5 glasses of water;
- 300 gr. pork pulp;
- bulb;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Cooking time: 40-60 minutes plus time for soaking peas.
Calories: about 300 Kcal / 100 gr.
Pre-soaked peas need to be washed and pour water first in a ratio of one to two, and then, if necessary, pouring in another 1 cup of water, if the peas still crunch. Then it must be mashed with potato chips to the desired consistency.
While the peas are being prepared, you need to cook the meat dressing - chop and fry the onions in the oil, add the pork pieces to it, salt and pepper and stew under the lid until done.
Next will be to mix pea porridge with meat and put in a heated oven for another 10 minutes, so that the dish is saturated with the flavors of all its ingredients.
How to cook a dish with smoked meats
One of the most classic and successful flavor combinations is peas and smoked meat - everyone is probably accustomed to such pea soup, but they did not think that with the same ingredients you can make pea porridge.
Ideally, of course, smoked pork ribs are taken, but in order to save, it is quite possible to replace them with chicken meat, which not only saves the budget, but also reduces the total cooking time.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups of peas (soaked overnight);
- 2 smoked chicken legs;
- 2 large onions;
- 1 medium carrot;
- vegetable oil;
- greens at will;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Cooking time: 1.5 hours plus time for soaking peas.
Calorie content: about 150 Kcal / 100 gr.
First you need to separate the meat from the bones of the legs, pour 0.5 liters of water into it, bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, then remove it and pour peas into the resulting broth. Reduce heat to low and leave porridge to languish under the lid for about an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. If the liquid boils out earlier, you can add more water.
While the porridge is cooked, you need to fry the chopped onion together with the grated carrots, and add to them boiled pieces of smoked meat, frying everything together for a few minutes. Put zazharku in porridge for 5 minutes before it is ready, season with spices and herbs.
The recipe for delicious pea porridge-mashed potatoes with onions in a slow cooker
To cook porridge from peas in a slow cooker, peas also need to be soaked beforehand, and then use the "Quenching" mode for an hour to two, then the cereal will be boiled slowly, and the taste of the finished dish will be the most intense.
The simplest onion zazharki can give it a special taste - so they liked eating pea porridge even in Russia, except that they prepared it, of course, in the oven.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of peas (pre-soaked);
- 3 glasses of water;
- 1 large onion;
- a piece of butter;
- 2 tbsp. spoons of sunflower oil;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Preparation time: 2 hours plus time for soaking peas.
Caloric content: about 280 Kcal / 100 gr.
First, in the bowl of the slow cooker in the “Heated” mode, you need to fry finely chopped onions, then pour the peas to it, pour all over with water, salt and set the “Quenching” mode for 2 hours. After cooking, season the porridge with butter.
The secrets of cooking peas
In addition to what has already been said that the peas are supposed to be boiled in the same water in which they were soaked, as well as in thick-walled dishes with occasional stirring of porridge in order to avoid its burning, there are also other secrets of its successful preparation. For example, there may be such a situation that there is no time for soaking peas, or simply this has been forgotten.
Then you can do the following: wash the peas, pour it with cold water in the same proportion of 1 to 4, and put immediately on heavy fire. After the water boils, reduce the fire to moderate and boil the peas for about an hour, add a pinch of soda to the water and remove the foam that appears.
Salt such porridge can only be at the very end of cooking, and after the peas are cooked, crush it with a tolcush and leave the resulting mass (which will be watery) for a while, until it thickens. When cooking in a pea porridge, you can add bay leaf and pepper peas for flavor.
Other secrets of cooking pea porridge:
- You should not try to cook pea porridge in a double boiler - there will be no success;
- If the water is hard, the croup will boil in it for a very long time, so it is advisable to use filtered water for soaking it and for boiling it;
- If the pea porridge is cooked not at once, then it must be taken into account that it is very thick, and at first the somewhat thinish texture will change;
- Sometimes in the process of soaking peas for the night due to temperature or other features in the room, he may have time to go down - this can be understood by the fact that the water in which he was soaked becomes cloudy and slippery. If there is such a risk, then it is better to put the container with the peas soaked overnight in the refrigerator.
Speaking about the taste points, it is possible to season pea porridge, boiled in water not only with cream, but also with olive or fragrant sunflower oil.
It can also be cooked in vegetable, mushroom or meat broths all in the same ratio - this dish is made with an even more interesting taste.
Pea porridge perfectly serves as a side dish for meatballs or chops, and as an independent dish goes well with pickles or sauerkraut. The frozen pea porridge left over from the meal can then be used also as a filling for pies.
And for baby food, porridge can be “painted” by throwing a handful of green peas and a multi-colored vegetable mixture into it shortly before the end of cooking.
In general, there are plenty of options for its preparation and use, but it must be remembered that pea porridge is a very satisfying dish, which is better to eat less than more, otherwise it may be fraught with problems with digestion - for example, heaviness in the stomach.
In the next video - the easiest recipe for cooking pea porridge.
