Minted Mushy Peas

This recipe comes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittenstall's excellent book 'River Cottage Veg Everyday!' which has the honour of currently being my favourite cook-book (thanks go to my awesome sister for the excellent Christmas present). I used a red onion in this, and also added some dried mint, but other than that it follows his recipe pretty closely. Due to the onions, you need to blend the peas; if you don't have a blender or don't want to use onions, you could omit the onion and just mash the peas up instead. Either way, this is a guaranteed winner, and I very much enjoyed this with some pie and chips.

1 red or white onion, finely chopped
3 - 4 garlic cloves, chopped
500g peas - frozen or fresh
2 tbsp fresh mint (can substitute with 2 tsp dried if necessary)
1 tsp dried mint

1. Fry the onion and garlic in oil or - if your waistline is more forgiving than mine - butter until soft. Set to one side.

2. Chop fresh mint (if using). Cook the peas in a pan of water along with the fresh mint.

3. Drain the peas, saving some of the cooking water. Try not to lose the mint when you drain! Add to a food processor along with the cooked onion, the dried mint, a pinch of salt and pepper (to your tastes).

4. Blend, adding in the cooking water until desired consistency is achieved. If the mushy peas have cooled too much, add them back to the pan and re-heat.

5. Eat! and rejoice!