Molho de Ervilhas (Pea Stew)

And I’m back!

Happy Sunday everyone.  This recipe come from my Tia Elvira.  It’s a pea stew with linguiça and potatoes, and growing up, I remember my mom making this recipe quite often.  Tia Elvira’s version is slightly different, but just as good!

As you will notice with most of these recipes, they are rather simple in their ingredients and preparation.  Growing up in the Azores, my parents, grandparents, and the generations before them, relied on their own small crops and livestock to feed their families.  It’s what you would call, “peasant food,” which to them, was necessary to sustain themselves and provide for their families.  Over the generations, the recipes have been slightly modified, household to household.  They are now made not so much out of necessity, but rather, because they are Portuguese/Azorean dishes that remind us of home and are so good!

This stew is one of these dishes that is simple, but so good and hearty.  This time I didn’t forget the bread!

Yields: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped fine
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tomatoes, finely diced
1 linguiça sausage link, sliced thin
1 16-ounce bag frozen peas
3 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 teaspoons ketchup
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups water
3 eggs, boiled and sliced

Directions:

1) In a large pot or Dutch Oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent and lightly browned, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, two minutes. Add tomatoes and linguiça, and cook uncovered for approximately 5 minutes, stirring gently.

2) Add peas, potatoes, ketchup, and paprika, and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated into one another. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Add water, bring to a boil, and cook covered until potatoes and peas are cooked, approximately 40-45 minutes.

3) Separately, boil eggs, thinly slice them, and add to the stew at the very end. Stir and serve.