Green pea recipes

Going to the vegetable market in Romania right about this time of the year, you find green peas fresh off the vine. It is a widely used vegetable in Romanian cooking, even though it seems to have reached this part of the world sometime in the 17th century.

Ștefan Baciu, 04.06.2014, 13:54

Going to the vegetable market in Romania right about this time of the year, you find green peas fresh off the vine. It is a widely used vegetable in Romanian cooking, even though it seems to have reached this part of the world sometime in the 17th century.

One of the most common ways of cooking this vegetable is to make a stew with any kind of meat, chicken, pork or beef. Usually you use half a kilo of pork or beef for two kilos of peas, or one kilo of chicken per the same quantity. It is a flexible recipe in terms of the sauce.





You can use tomato juice, paste, or you can simply peel and chop two very ripe tomatoes for the sauce base. You also need two large onions and one bunch of green dill, and, of course, the meat and two kilos of peas. If the peas are young and fresh in the pod, by all means use them as is. You can cook the meat two ways: boil it separately for a leaner dish or lightly fry it along with the sliced onions, then add a bit of water and simmer it for a heartier one.





In any case, start by sweating the onion until soft, with or without the meat. When the meat is cooked, take it off the bones, if there are any. In the vessel you cook add back the meat and the peas with a bit of water, enough to simmer the mixture. Towards the end, when the peas are nearly cooked, add the tomato, paste or chopped. When everything is properly cooked, chop the green dill finely, turn off the heat and mix in the dill. Cover and leave for a few minutes for the flavor to infuse in the dish. It is a dish you can also eat cold.

Enjoy!