Slow Cooked Pea and Ham Soup

When I first tried this I was aiming for a stew, but got a very tasty soup instead. I've since decided that it's best as a soup anyway.

Ingredients:

• One onion, finely chopped
• Two carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 1 bay leaf
• 500g dried split green peas
• 1kg gammon joint, a smoked sweet cure is best
• 20g fresh mint

Method:

1. Place all the ingredients apart from the gammon and the mint into the slow cooker.
2. Cover with boiling water and mix well.
3. Place the gammon on top of the mixture, fat side up and top up the water so that it is mostly covered.
4. Cook on low for 8 hours.
5. Remove the gammon from the slow cooker and trim the fat off it.
6. Use forks to rip the gammon into small strips and return these to the slow cooker and mix well.
7. Finely chop the fresh mint with a knife.
8. Serve into bowls, garnishing each bowl with a sprinkle of the mint and an optional spoonful of cremé fraiche if you have some to hand.

Serves 5 to 6 people.