Years ago when a group of friends and I were celebrating Thanksgiving, a friend asked me to make mushy peas. I had no idea what she was asking for so I made something up. I bought a can of peas (which already sounded mushy to me) and cooked it to death. Needless to say this was not what she wanted.
In spite of my time living in the UK, mushy peas was not one of the dishes I came across. It wasn’t until a few years later, while watching an episode of Jamie Oliver that I was introduced to this lovely side dish.
Mushy peas are traditionally served with fish & chips although I never noticed it on the menu when I went to my neighborhood chippy. I rarely, if ever, fry things in my house but I enjoy this as a side dish for many things. Once I discovered this recipe, I couldn’t stop eating it. I actually overdid it and stopped making it for awhile.
I love the simplicity of Jamie Oliver’s recipes and this one is exactly that – four main ingredients plus a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Throw the scallions, mint, and peas into a pan to steam for a bit. Throw everything into a food processor along with some butter, salt, and pepper. Whizz it together to your desired consistency. And done.
Now I order mushy peas whenever I see it on the menu. But if I ever have a craving, I can whip this up in no time (confession: sometimes this is all I eat for dinner).
This post is dedicated to one of my best friends, Sharon. I would have never discovered this fantastic dish without her 🙂
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Jamie Oliver’s Minty Mushy Peas
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This is a classic accompaniment to fish & chips with a Jamie Oliver twist.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1 handful fresh mint, leaves only, no stem
1 pound frozen peas (I use petite peas)
2 large knobs butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the scallions, mint, and peas. Cover and leave for a few minutes to steam.
Place the mixture in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Add butter and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Side dishes, vegetables
- Cuisine: British
Nutrition
- Calories: 206.65
- Sugar: 5.08 g.
- Sodium: 206.16 mg.
- Fat: 12.93 g.
- Saturated Fat: 4.66 g.
- Carbohydrates: 17.69 g.
- Fiber: 6.18 g.
- Protein: 6.44 g.
- Cholesterol: 15.27 g.
Keywords: Side dishes, vegetables, Jamie Oliver
Peas. Mushy. Not Mushy Peas. The basic recipe is marrowfat peas (which are a large pea that is dried in the field before harvest), baking soda, water, salt, and pepper. One cooks them until they break down to mush. You can get fancy with added butter, a splash of cream, using stock instead of water, and/or adding some chopped mint. You can even use green split peas if you have trouble sourcing marrowfat peas in the U.S. But fresh and frozen green peas have a completely different flavor and texture.
★★
Thank you for sharing what goes into a traditional recipe for mushy peas. And thank you for providing an alternative to marrowfat peas (not something I’ve come across in the U.S.).
You are not the first to disparage Jamie Oliver’s take on recipes (are you familiar with Uncle Roger? He is particularly critical of Jamie Oliver’s take on Asian dishes). But as Jamie Oliver is from the U.K., I thought he would have represented the dish much more to your liking.
As a stand alone dish, I still enjoy it, but I take your comments to heart.
Fresh, frozen, or canned, your standard green peas cannot be used to make mushy peas. Mushy peas is a very specific dish, made with dried peas, specifically marrowfat peas. In the U.S., if you can’t find marrowfat peas you can use green split peas. It won’t be quite the same—the texture will be a little different—but you can still turn out a respectable substitute. This is a nice recipe for green peas. If you called it what it is, I’d give it 5 stars.
But fish n chips—the real thing—beer batter, malt vinegar, tartar sauce….just has to have mushy peas on the side!
★
yum can’t wait to try tonight
★★★★★