Winter is here, well it was for one night!   Fires were lit, flannelette sheets went on the beds and the soup recipes came out!!  So this week I bring you my mums Dutch pea and ham soup. It is absolutely one of my most fond memories of living on a farm in winter as a kid. Mum would make this soup every  week and we loved the fact that the soup was so thick we could stand our spoons up in bowl! 
 Mum’s Dutch pea and ham soup (serves 4) 
1 smoked pork hock 
1 carrot, peeled and quartered 
1 onion, peeled and quartered 
2 bay leaves 
1 ltr chicken stock 
1 ltr water 
2 cup green lentils 
½ tsp Salt 
¼ tsp white pepper 
Place all the ingredients in a large pot with a lid. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer (covered) for 1 hour. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Remove pork hock and set aside. Blitz the soup until smooth. Pick the meat from pork hock into the soup. Serve soup hot with Gruyère toasts. 
Gruyère toasts 
8 slices ciabatta 
4 tbsp Dijon mustard 
100g Gruyère cheese, grated 
Spread Dijon mustard over ciabatta slices then top with grated Gruyère. Place under a hot grill until cheese is golden and bubbling.