Every housewife must know how to cook pea puree so tasty that it can decorate the diet of any family.
Peas are an original Russian product with a bright national flavor. Dishes made from it are hearty, high-calorie and surprisingly healthy. They are able to quickly restore strength, and this is a strong argument in favor of using it for people engaged in heavy physical labor.
Due to the presence of vegetable protein in legumes, peas go well with vegetables, meat, and fish. Pea porridge is an indispensable food during fasting, and for people watching their weight, it will help raise their vitality without adding a centimeter to their waist.
The most important thing is to prepare the dish correctly and try to give it the most appetizing appearance. But this science is simple, and a few little secrets will allow you to prove yourself to be a real craftswoman in the eyes of others!
Let's try to determine the most successful algorithm for solving the problem - how to prepare pea puree masterfully.
The first step is to boil the peas. To do this, we sort out the dry cereal, rinse it well, fill it with warm water and leave it overnight (at least for two hours!). In the morning, drain the water, rinse the peas again and put the pan on the highest heat, bring it to a boil, skim off the foam (it’s better to keep an eye on the point of boiling, otherwise a major cleaning of the stove will be inevitable!). Then reduce the heat to low and leave the peas to simmer for two hours.
During this time, periodically look into the pan, remembering to stir. When all the liquid has boiled away, the peas should be stirred very often to avoid burning. Ideally, the consistency of the cooked cereal should be puree-like. But old peas sometimes remain hard, regardless of the heat treatment time, so rub the finished porridge through a sieve or pound with a masher. That's it, our semi-finished product is ready.
Now you can show your imagination and refine the workpiece. By frying finely chopped onions and carrots in butter, and seasoning our prepared puree with this frying, you will get a complete side dish. And if you sprinkle it with your favorite herbs and freshly ground pepper, the dish will become an appetizing lunch for those who are fasting. A harmonious addition to it would be a salad of fresh vegetables or.
Fried mushrooms or hunting sausages are also excellent as a dressing for pea puree. And if you place boiled peas mixed with corn porridge in an even layer on a dish, and cover the base with layers of finely chopped ham and tomatoes, sprinkle it all with cheese and put it in the oven for 20 minutes, you will get Russian-style polenta. Unpretentious and really tasty!
It couldn't be easier to cook pea puree in a slow cooker if you are the lucky owner of this treasure!
A minimum of effort is required from you: thoroughly rinse the peas (1 cup), preferably crushed. Then pour it into the multicooker container and add two glasses of water, adding salt to taste. Turn on the “Extinguishing” option and forget about it for 2.5 hours, this is the time that needs to be set on the display. After your miracle technique has finished working, add butter to the peas according to your wishes and needs and leave for another 15 minutes. That's it, you can start eating.
IMPORTANT: Peas, in principle, can be consumed by absolutely all healthy people. But, as you know, every rule has its exception. If you have circulatory problems, nephritis and gout, it is better to refrain from eating all members of the legume family!
If you are a classic visual learner, then the language of images is more understandable to you, and you can easily cook delicious pea puree by watching this video:
Many in their Soviet childhood ate such a simple dish as pea puree in kindergarten or school. Some people liked it, some didn’t, but the fact that peas contain many useful vitamins and minerals always remains. Pea puree is a very easy to prepare and tasty dish that can be used as a side dish for meat, for example, or simply as an independent dish. For vegetarians, this is a godsend. If you use your imagination, you can come up with many options for diversifying pea puree.
However, not many people know how to cook pea puree correctly so that the peas are well cooked and crumbly, tasty and tender.
Preparing pea puree does not require great culinary talent and extensive cooking experience, the main thing is to know some of the features of this product. First, you need to choose the right pea variety. For your pea puree, use yellow waxy peas in halves. Since such peas are grown on dry soils, they absorb a large amount of vitamins and nutrients that the human body needs. You can also use brain pea varieties (wrinkled or smooth).
How to cook pea puree?
The first rule to follow if you want the cooking to be quick is to cover the peas with water the day before cooking. It must be soaked in water for at least eight hours. It’s better to do it this way: pour the peas in the evening and leave overnight, they will absorb water and will be easier to boil. It can be easily prepared the next day.
Drain the evening water and add boiling water so that the water covers the peas in the pan two fingers higher. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. When the peas boil, you need to reduce the heat to low and cook for another hour. At the very end, before removing, you need to add a pinch of salt to the peas (if you add it earlier, the peas will cook longer, since the salt holds them together) to taste and a piece of butter. Some people prefer to add a little milk to the puree, but I never do that (maybe I just don't like milk?), but you can try different ways to see if you like it. Then remove the pan from the heat and leave the peas at room temperature under the lid to steam and soften. Then there will be practically no need to pound it. After half an hour, you can rub it through a sieve or crush it to a smooth puree (I always compare it to baby food). If you have a blender, then there is no problem at all: pour it into the blender, mix, and here you have ready-made pea puree - tasty and healthy!
Now you know how to prepare pea puree for a side dish. It goes with any meat.
But you can make pea puree as a separate dish. To do this, you need a piece of bacon, cut into thin slices and finely chopped onions. Fry all this in a frying pan until golden brown and add to our puree. It turns out very tasty and satisfying.
There is another way to cook pea puree, a more modern one. Nowadays, pressure cookers are very common; in them, dishes are prepared very quickly and retain their beneficial properties. And, if you are the happy owner of such a magical device, then for you there is no question at all about how to cook pea puree.
In this case, cooking will take you only 15 minutes and a minimum of effort. But, nevertheless, you need to remember that the peas also need to be soaked before cooking so that they are crumbly and tender.
No matter how you prepare this dish, which came to us from Soviet times, pea puree remains tasty and healthy for a person at any age.
We all know the benefits of soups from childhood. You need to eat them every day. But sometimes you get tired of soup. I want to try something new and tasty, unusual. Something you can please yourself and your loved ones with and something you can diversify your daily menu with. In this case, prepare pea puree. This dish is very nutritious and healthy. The protein content in peas is almost the same as in meat, namely beef. You can serve pea puree in a beautiful plate, complement the dish with crackers and herbs. Then such a simple dish will give you new shades of taste. Preparing pea puree will not take much time or effort. You can find how to make pea puree in almost any cookbook. It doesn't require a lot of ingredients. Peas are an independent dish, as they contain a large amount of protein. Just don’t forget that peas are quite heavy food for the stomach, so it’s best to serve pea puree for lunch. Moreover, it will satisfy hunger for a long time.
Pea puree is also prepared for children, but from the age of one and a half years. Previously, it should not be given to children, since peas cause fermentation in the intestinal tract. The benefits of such a dish are simply irreplaceable.
In order to choose the right recipe for pea puree, you need to understand the varieties, divided into table, universal and canned. A versatile pea variety suitable for both soups and canning. The table pea variety is used for making soups and porridges. The canning grade is accordingly used for canning.
How to answer the question “How to cook pea puree?” The most important secret of preparing delicious pea puree is that the peas must first be soaked, preferably overnight. Then you won't have to cook the peas for a long time. Both yellow and green peas are suitable for cooking. Yellow peas are tougher. The puree is soft and delicate in taste.
So, the recipe for pea puree.
To prepare we will need:
- dried peas - 600 grams
- onion - 2 medium sized heads
- carrots - 1 pc. medium size
- sunflower oil (can be replaced with olive oil)
- salt to your taste
First you need to rinse the peas several times with water and soak them overnight. After this, you need to add water, pour fresh cold water over the peas, and put on low heat.
It takes 1-1.5 hours to cook the peas. Cold water must be added to the peas every 20 minutes. After the peas are completely boiled, they need to be salted.
Meanwhile, fry the onions and carrots with a little oil. Add them to the peas. Mash the peas with a blender.
Pea puree recipe. What are the secrets?
Salting a pea dish correctly is very important. It must be salted at the end of cooking. This way the puree won’t get soggy, it will cook better and taste better.
It is necessary to knead the pea puree immediately, so it will turn out without lumps.
You can add pepper to the frying. For a children's dish, you need to fry the vegetables quite a bit, just grab a little. Fried vegetables can be mixed with puree or served separately.
The recipe for mashed peas with cracklings is delicious. To prepare this puree, you need to fry thinly sliced bacon and fry the onion in the same oil. Sprinkle the puree with fried onions and bacon.
You can make puree from canned and frozen peas.
As we can see, there are a lot of recipes for making pea puree. Add your imagination, and then such a simple dish will surprise your whole family.
This cereal is life, because it is filled with many vitamins that our body lacks in the spring. This pea recipe is just what you need!
Pea dishes are popular in cuisines all over the world. For example, a lot of things are prepared from this legume in Europe, from the usual soups to the filling for pancakes and pies. But this is in theory. In practice, while our housewives are more or less “friendly” with pea soup, many people have problems with pea puree. That is why this dish does not appear so often on modern tables. Although in fact there is nothing difficult in preparing delicious pea puree.
Ingredients:
How to make delicious pea puree
1 . Rinse the peas, add water so that it exceeds the level of the peas by 2 cm. Leave at room temperature for 1-2 hours. If you soak peas overnight, be sure to put them in the refrigerator to prevent them from going sour. Read about all the methods with and without soaking below, under the recipe with photos.
2
. Wash the peas, place in a saucepan and add 3-4 cups of cold water. Place the pan on low heat and cook for 45-60 minutes - chopped, 1.5 hours whole. If the peas have not yet been cooked, and the water has already boiled away, you need to add boiling water to the pan. To make the beans cook faster, you can add 1 tablespoon of vegetable or butter to the water. This will increase the cooking temperature to 100 degrees. The foam must be skimmed off and stirred periodically to prevent the peas from burning. As a result, you should end up with a liquid mass of boiled peas (see photo). Add salt, stir.
3
. While the puree base is cooking, peel the onions and carrots. Finely chop the onion, grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Sauté (fry until soft and lightly browned) in butter or vegetable oil.
4
. Place the sautéed vegetables into the blender.
5
. Pour the pea mixture on top with a ladle.
6
. Grind until smooth puree.
Delicious pea puree is ready
Bon appetit!
Basic rules for making pea puree
According to most experts, the best puree is made from split peas. It is considered optimal to use varieties such as “yellow waxy”, “wrinkled” or “smooth brain”. It is difficult to argue with this opinion. However, excellent pea puree can be made from almost any variety of this plant. The main thing is to follow simple rules.
It’s worth starting with the fact that peas “love” when they are soaked. Therefore, if you plan to have pea puree for lunch/dinner, then the day before, you should pour the legumes with cold water and put them in the cold so that they do not sour. In 6-12 hours, the peas will be saturated with water and will cook much faster.
If it was not possible to arrange similar water procedures for legumes, it does not matter. Split peas can also be prepared just before cooking. Fill with water and leave for 1-2 hours, the peas will absorb the water, become softer and cook much faster.
You can do without soaking at all, then the peas will cook for 1-1.5 hours. You can speed up cooking if you roast the peas. This can be done either in a dry frying pan or using vegetable oil or margarine for frying. The whole procedure takes no more than 10 minutes. By the way, after calcination, the peas not only boil better, but also become much more flavorful.
As for cooking itself, this also has its own subtleties. Boil it in a large amount of water (4 glasses of water per glass of peas). Peas are classified as “running” foods. It is advisable to keep an eye on it and when a large amount of foam appears, you need to reduce the gas and remove it. After this, the pan with legumes can be covered with a lid and cooked until tender - 2-2.5 hours. However, this does not mean that you can forget about the pan. Firstly, boiled peas burn remarkably well, incl. it must be stirred every 5-10 minutes. Secondly, you need to monitor the amount of water in the pan and add boiling water if necessary.
You need to salt the peas towards the end of cooking, when they have already boiled enough. The finished puree should be removed from the heat and left to brew under the lid for 30-40 minutes.
Usually peas prepared in this way are completely boiled on their own. However, if there are still lumps in the puree, you can crush them with a masher or blender.
Alternative way
The most optimal way to prepare pea puree is described above. However, if you don’t have the proper amount of time, it can be prepared in another way.
Wash the peas, pour in plenty of cold water at the rate of 4 cups of water per 1 cup of legumes and bring to a boil. In this case, you should also carefully monitor the future porridge and when a head of foam appears, reduce the heat and remove it with a slotted spoon. Then add a teaspoon of baking soda to the saucepan. This ingredient will help the peas cook much faster.
As in the previous case, pea porridge must be stirred regularly. Otherwise, it will definitely burn. You need to add salt the same way as in the first case - at the very end. Well, after removing the porridge from the heat, it again needs to be allowed to stand for half an hour.
To make it even tastier
Peas are delicious on their own. But at the same time, it goes well with many products. That is why puree can be both an independent dish and a side dish.
The already pleasant taste of pea puree is well emphasized by the butter. The proverb “You can’t spoil porridge with butter” seems to have been invented for this dish. At the same time, you can flavor peas with almost any oil: olive, sunflower, corn, butter, etc.
A variety of spices and seasonings, for example: mixtures of dried aromatic herbs, wonderfully highlight the taste. It’s a good idea to add freshly chopped fresh herbs to it: parsley, dill, rosemary, basil, etc. You can also add chopped garlic to the finished puree, but only a little - 1-2 cloves.
Pea puree will acquire additional flavor if you add onions fried until golden brown. And you can go even further. Make a fry of onions with carrots grated on a large or medium shredder. It turns out extremely tasty. The main thing is that the carrots are brought to full readiness, i.e. would become soft.
This dish goes well with almost any tomato sauce. In this case, you can use both ready-made sauces and those prepared by yourself.
Recipes based on pea puree
Pea puree with smoked brisket
Peas with meat are especially good. In this case, the type of meat does not matter. It can be lamb, beef, pork and even poultry. But the most delicious taste is obtained if you prepare pea puree with smoked brisket. For this dish you will need:
- peas - 1 cup;
- smoked brisket – 200 g;
- onion – 1 medium head;
- garlic – 1-2 cloves (depending on size);
- salt and seasonings - to taste;
- meat broth - 4 tablespoons;
- water – 1 l (for making puree).
Prepare puree using any method described above. Peel the onion and garlic, chop finely and fry in vegetable oil until the onion turns golden. Cut the brisket into small cubes.
Add fried onion/garlic, meat broth to the cooling pea puree and mix everything thoroughly. To make the dish more homogeneous, you can do this using a blender. Then add the pieces of brisket, mix again, after which the dish can be served.
You can do it a little differently by adding the brisket not to the finished puree, but to the peas still standing on the stove, about half an hour before cooking. Instead of brisket, you can add regular meat, but then you need to add it to the porridge a little earlier - about 1 hour before it is ready.
Pea puree with melted cheese
The porridge is no less tasty if you season it with cheese. For such a dish you don’t need many ingredients:
- peas - 1 cup;
- salt - to taste;
- meat broth – 200 ml (you can use chicken broth);
- processed cheese – 100 g (preferably one of the creamy varieties);
- water – 600 ml (for making puree).
Prepare the puree using the standard method. The only caveat is that about an hour after the start of cooking, add a glass of meat broth to the saucepan with peas. By the way, if you plan to use not homemade broth, but some kind of bouillon cube, then there is no need to salt the peas.
Grate the cheese on a coarse grater, finely chop the parsley. Add the prepared ingredients to the already cooled pea puree and mix thoroughly. A delicious dish is ready.
Pea puree with vegetables (Hungarian style)
An ingredient such as bell pepper gives it a rather unusual taste. By the way, this is one of the classic dishes of Hungarian cuisine. This dish turns out to be nourishing and flavorful.
- peas - 1 cup;
- sweet bell pepper – 1 pc.;
- carrots – 1 medium-sized root vegetable;
- onion – 1 medium head;
- butter – 50-100 g;
- salt and seasonings - to taste;
- vegetable oil (sunflower) – for frying;
- water – 0.8-1 l (for making puree).
And again, first you need to prepare the pea puree. While it is “infusing”, prepare the vegetables. Finely chop the onion, grate the carrots on a fine grater, cut the pepper into strips.
Fry the onion in a frying pan with heated vegetable oil. Then add carrots and peppers and fry for about another 10 minutes.
Mix the puree with butter in a blender, add the fried vegetables and mix everything thoroughly. The Hungarian national dish is ready.
The general principles for preparing pea puree are described above. And the fillers, as is clear from the recipes given, can be absolutely anything. Some versions even contain seafood fried with onions. So don't be afraid to experiment. These are peas! It simply cannot turn out tasteless!
Video recipe
Who doesn’t remember the taste of pea puree from kindergarten? Some people loved him, some didn't. My memories of pea puree are as follows: a mountain of cold, tasteless yellow mass on a plate... I only really tasted the taste of pea puree in the school cafeteria.
But for my granddaughter, I prepare pea puree “like in kindergarten.” Today I want to offer a version of this dish, which is prepared in accordance with the technological map, the only difference is that the number of ingredients will be reduced to 1 serving of pea puree at the end.
So, let's prepare the ingredients for making pea puree like in kindergarten. It is better to take crushed peas.
First, we sort through the peas, remove any debris if there is any, then rinse with water as many times as necessary until the water becomes clear. In this clear water in a ratio of 1:2 we soak the peas overnight. Those. Soak 100 g of peas in 200 ml of water.
In the morning, drain the water from the peas. Transfer the peas to a saucepan in which we will cook the puree.
Fill the peas with water, 250 ml.
Add a couple of pinches of salt.
Let the water in the pan boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook the pea puree for 40-45 minutes.
Drain the liquid from the finished peas (if it has not boiled away) and either use a potato masher or blender to turn the pea porridge into puree.
