The Pie Floater!

It's AFL grand final time in Australia and I had a house full of boys tonight to watch to footy.  I asked Jared what he wanted for dinner (hoping he'd say home made cheeseburgers) and he said he wanted a Pie Floater!  Many people around the world won't know what a Pie Floater is.  I think it might be a purely South Australian cuisine.  A Pie Floater is a bowl of hot pea soup with a meat pie upside down in the middle.  And according to Jared, with vinegar sprinkled over the soup and tomato sauce on the pie. 

So I set about trying to find a recipe for pea soup that was quick and easy. It is Friday night afterall and I really don't want to spend hours in the kitchen.  I nearly gave up after finding countless recipes that involved pushing the mushy peas through a seive and blending garlic and other spices in a blitzer.  But in the dying seconds of Jared's dream meal becoming a reality Nigella Lawson came through for me.  I found her recipe for Quick and Easy Pea Soup.  And it certainly was.  I really enjoyed it, and so did the boys.  The whole dish was quick, easy and cheap.  I bought the pies from the Central Markets from a gourmet baker.  It was delicious.  I didn't add the olive oil or the parmesan cheese to the pea soup as I was dumping a great big pie in the middle, but I will use this pea recipe again and use those last tasty additives.

2 cups vegetable stock

3 cups frozen peas
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Warm the stock over medium to low heat in a saucepan. Add the peas; cook until tender
Transfer peas and stock to a blender, and process until smooth, adding the balsamic vinegar toward the end.

Pour in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and pour a little bit of olive oil on top. Grate or sprinkle some Parmesan cheese over.

E.