When I was in Altamura in Puglia I worked with a family of bakers who all lived in the same big house. Each part of the family had its own living-room and kitchen. I went back home with them one day and 4 different families were cooking 4 different meals – it was very surreal. This pea soup was one of the dishes being made.
Ingredients
• olive oil
• 2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 large handfuls of freshly podded peas
• 1.1 litres chicken stock
• 255g dried spaghetti, broken into approx•
• 2.5cm lengths
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
optional: 1 sprig each of fresh mint, basil and rosemary
• extra virgin olive oil
a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Pour a good lug of olive oil into a pan, add the onions and fry slowly for 10
minutes. Stir in the peas and chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer for
another 10 minutes or so. Bring some salted water to the boil and cook your
spaghetti for half the time it says on the packet, then drain and add it to the
pea soup to finish cooking. It's nice to tie up the sprigs of herbs and pop them
into the soup to give it a nice fragrance, removing them before serving. When
the pasta's cooked have a taste of the soup and season carefully with salt and
pepper. Divide the soup between the bowls, drizzle over a little extra virgin
olive oil and sprinkle with the parsley.