Sluttishly Savoury: Mushy Peas and Black Pudding Crumbs

When my boyfriend goes food shopping (a VERY rare occasion), it normally ends up with him coming back with the most peculiar arrangement of ingredients that I then have to bring together in some way, Ready Steady Cook style. It can be frustrating.

The other day he came back with black pudding, some weird processed cheese and leeks (for some reason, he always gets leeks). I discarded the weird cheese and the leeks and got out some peas from the freezer and some leftover tenderstem. This was going to be a simple number.

What we ended up eating was simple but nevertheless, delicious. I really like black pudding, but feel it needs to be broken up into large crumbs and fried rather than kept in disc-form. I know some people are a bit funny about it – it being made from blood 'n all - but I say give it a go. It's spicy and a bit haggisy, so doesn't need to be seasoned or anything, just partnered with something complementary. As far as I'm concerned it can go straight to the top of the shopping list from here on in!

Mushy Peas and Black Pudding Crumbs (serves 2)

• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• a small bag of frozen peas
• 100ml milk
• 100ml cream
• 4 discs of good quality black pudding, rind removed and broken up into large chunks
• a serving of tenderstem broccoli

Make it!

• Sweat the onion and garlic in a little olive oil for a few minutes. 
• Add the peas, and cook for a further few minutes.
• Add the milk and cream, season with salt and pepper, and heat through for a final minute before removing from the heat and pulsing in a food processor. 
• Fry the black pudding in a shallow pan with a drop of oil. You want it to become crispy on the outside. This should take about 10 minutes or so.
• Steam the broccoli until tender and serve over the mushy peas with the cripsy black pudding tumbled over.