Scottish Ham Hock Soup

This is another staple soup from my childhood, it's the perfect thing for a cold winters day.

We normally serve it with some crusty bread and have it as a main meal, it's also another great soup to have when you are feeling unwell.

Again the amounts and ingredients are not really that important and can easily be changed depending on what you like, what you have in, how many you want to feed, what size of pot you are using etc

You don't have to use any meat to start with either you can use premade stock and just skip the first two steps.

Ingredients:

1 Ham Hock (These can be picked up in most supermarkets and aren't costly)

5 Large Carrots

2 or 3 Onions

1 Leek

1/2 of a Turnip

1/2 Cup of red lentils

Ham or Vegetable Stock Cubes (I used 6 Aldis Vegetable Cubes)

Salt and Pepper (optional)

 

Instructions:

 

1. Rinse the Ham Hock and place in a large pot covered with cold water, bring to the boil then leave cooking for roughly 1 hour (until the meat is totally cooked, it will begin to fall off the bone).

 

You can wash, peel and thinly slice and/or chop 3 of the carrots, the onions, leek and turnip during this time.

 

Grate the 2 leftover carrots.

 

2. Remove the cooked hock from the pot and set aside.

 

3. Add all of the vegetables (apart from the grated carrot) and the stock cubes to the pot and allow to boil for 30/40 minutes. (until the veg is almost cooked)

 

4. Rinse the half cup of lentils in cold water (I use a sieve for this) until the water runs clear then add them along with the grated carrot to the pot, simmer for around 30 mins, stirring occasional to ensure the lentils don't stick.

 

5. Add in some of the cooked ham from earlier and cook for another few minutes, season with salt and pepper to taste and then serve.

 

Enjoy!

Tip: You don't have to use meat in this soup or can use any meat you choose, sometimes instead of using a ham hock I use some boiling beef or some bacon lardons.

Will you or have you attempted this recipe? what did you think?