Pea and Ham Soup Noodles (Recipe)

Sometimes I'm a genius. At least that's what I tell myself when I make up a recipe.

I still had the pea shoots that I'd blagged from Waitrose at Taste of London 2009, and I lay on the floor for a bit thinking what I could do with them.

For the uninitiated, pea shoots (aka pea tops or pea sprouts) are the heart-shaped, tendrilly leaves of the garden pea plant.

Long beloved in Chinese cookery where they are known as dòu miáo, they have only just made an appearance on our shores.

The little leaves taste just like the sweetest, freshest peas and are best eaten raw or lightly cooked, in salads and stir-fries.

However, it occurred to me that since peas and ham go so well together in Pea and Ham Soup, I could attempt to create a summery riff on the same.

I adore my noodle soups and decided that this would be my gameplan, so I fried some ham, boiled some udon, made some broth, and bunged the pea shoots on top. Then I scoffed the lot.

As suspected, the pea shoots and the ham complemented each other beautifully in a much lighter version of traditional Pea and Ham Soup.

Serves two

Pea and Ham Soup Noodles

• Handful of ham off-cuts/chunks
• 80g packet of pea shoots
• 400g fresh udon noodles
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 750ml boiling water
• 1 soft boiled egg (optional - I am greedy)

Stir-fry the chunks of ham in a medium sized saucepan and, when the meat is caramelised, pour in the boiling water and add the stock cube and sugar.

Bring to a rolling boil and then chuck in the udon noodles. When the noodles are cooked through (couple of minutes max), dish up the lot into two bowls and divide the pea shoots between them.

Stir the pea shoots through the noodle soup until gently wilted, top with boiled egg if using and then serve immediately.

I love it when a plan comes together.