This week it's another winter warmer, for when the weather does eventually get cold!

It's a dish from Northumberland - pease pudding. It's the North East equivalent to haggis.

When I was a kid I always thought it was Scottish and we used to have a slice of it in a sandwich with some beetroot and corned beef. We use it in a lot of dishes at the restaurant as it makes a great purée and garnish.

This is the French version and it serves 6 people.

Pease Pudding

Ingredients

2 pints of water

One large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

6-8oz of yellow split peas (no need to pre-soak)

2 rashers of smoky bacon (as an alternative you could use a strong smoked fish such as mackerel or kipper)

And if you have them…

A few strands of saffron (you can get less expensive versions in M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury's etc. It's not as good quality but it will give the colour you need)

A sprig of thyme

Some black peppercorns

A couple of bay leaves

Method

1 Bring the water to the boil and add a touch of salt.

2 Add the onion, garlic, yellow split peas and bacon (and the herbs/spices if you are using them).

3 Bring to a nice rolling orange boil then simmer for about 2 hours. It will get thicker and soak up the water. Keep an eye on it and add more water if it sticks. No need to add any butter or cream.

4 When it's ready, blend it or you can pass it through a sieve (but remove the thyme etc beforehand).

5 Put it into a container to cool down where it will get a wee crust on the top.

6 Serve it hot or cold.

A big scoop of pease pudding goes well with boiled onions, gammon steak and beetroot pickle (you can get this in a jar or make your own with fresh beetroot, spring onions, olive oil and a bit of chilli.)  You could have a fried egg with it too.

It's also great with HP Fruity or ketchup.

There really is nothing like it and it lasts for ages (up to a week in the fridge).