How to cook peas and how to speed up the process

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you think that peas always cook for a long time, burn quickly, remain too tough, or, conversely, turn sour into a liquid porridge, you simply do not know how to cook them. Here is a recipe for the right pea porridge and three ways to diversify it.

How many peas are cooked

Whole dry peas are cooked for 2–2, 5 hours, or even longer: it all depends on the variety and the consistency you need. Crushed will be cooked for 1–1, 5 hours.

If you pre-soak the peas, the seeds will swell, become soft, and the cooking time will be shortened. Whole peas will cook for 40-60 minutes, crushed ones - 30-45 minutes.

How to further speed up the process

1. Do not salt right away: peas take longer to cook in salted water. So it's best to put the salt at the very end.
2. After boiling, add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable or butter to the peas.
3. 10-15 minutes after boiling, add ½ teaspoon of baking soda for every 2 liters of water. This will soften the peas in 5-7 minutes. But be careful: if you overdo it with soda, the taste of the dish may deteriorate.

How to cook peas in a saucepan

Be sure to sort out the cereals: throw out spoiled peas and small stones. Then soak the seeds in clean, cold water for 5-8 hours. It is not worth it any longer: the peas can turn sour. When the time is up, check if the grains are swollen enough. If not, drain the old water, pour in clean water and wait another hour and a half.

For 300 g of peas you need 2-3 liters of water.

Before cooking, rinse the peas and place them in a saucepan with thick sides and bottom: nothing will burn in one. Pour in clean water so that it is 1 cm higher than the grains.

Place the pot over low heat. When foam appears, remove it with a tablespoon or slotted spoon.

You should not completely cover the pan with a lid: leave a crack to let the steam out. If the water boils away, add boiling water. Do not pour in cold water, otherwise the taste of the dish will deteriorate.

Since peas burn quickly, they need to be stirred periodically. You can start as soon as the foam stops appearing.

If the peas are boiled, and the water has not yet boiled away, you should not add fire, otherwise the peas will harden and the dish will lose its taste. If any water remains, simply drain it or let it simmer over low heat with the lid open.

Salt the peas before or immediately after turning off the stove. If you need mashed potatoes, mash the seeds with a pusher or a blender, without waiting for the dish to cool down: this way there will be no lumps.

Season the prepared porridge with butter or vegetable oil or heavy cream. Decorate with herbs.

How to cook peas in a slow cooker

Pour peas cleaned of debris and washed into a multicooker and pour water in a 1: 2 ratio.

Set the "Stew" or "Porridge" mode for 2 hours if the peas have not been soaked beforehand, and for 30-40 minutes if they have been soaked.

10 minutes before cooking, salt the peas and add vegetable or butter to it.

How to diversify pea porridge

1. Pea porridge with cream and vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry peas
• salt to taste;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 onion;
• 1 bell pepper;
• vegetable oil - for frying;
• 100 ml non-fat cream;
• greens.

Preparation

Cook the peas as described above. Peel vegetables. Grate the carrots on a medium grater, finely chop the onion, dice the pepper. Put vegetables in a skillet, salt and fry in vegetable oil.

Add cream to the finished pea porridge and mash with a pusher or blender. Arrange on plates, top with vegetables and garnish with herbs.

2. Pea porridge with stew

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups peas
• 300 g of stew;
• 1 onion;
• 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil;
• salt, pepper - to taste.

Preparation

Cook the peas. Put the stew in a bowl, remove excess fat and liquid. Cut the onion into half rings and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Add the stew to the onion and fry for another 10-15 minutes. Add salt and pepper, stir well, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add peas to the stew, stir and keep on fire for 3 minutes.

3. Pea porridge with mushrooms

Ingredients

• 2 cups peas
• salt to taste;
• 2 onions;
• 400 g of mushrooms;
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Preparation

Cook the peas. Peel the onion and cut into half rings. Wash and chop the mushrooms. Fry the onion in vegetable oil until golden brown, then add the mushrooms. Fry for 10 minutes, season with salt.

Put the onion and mushrooms in the cooked peas, mix. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with herbs.