The most
successful főzelék made from a frozen vegetable has to be green peas stew. When
I was a kid Grandma only made them in season and she always cooked the peas in
water, never in milk. In actual fact we had no frozen peas in those days, not
even in Budapest
Főzelék dishes are comforting, filling and uniquely Hungarian. When I was a kid we used to eat it with a tükörtojás, eggs sunny side up, and believe me after a long winter when we finally got to have some fresh green peas it was always a treat. I added a considerable amount of finely chopped fresh parsley at the end. The fresh parsley enhanced the flavor and made the dish taste fresher; in fact it made me forget these were frozen peas.
Green Peas Stew cooked in water
GREEN PEAS STEW
3 cups green peas
3/8 cup butter [do not reduce amount]
3 tbsp flour
salt to taste
3 cups cold milk [I used 1%]
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup fresh parsley
• Melt the butter on medium heat in a medium sized dutch pot.
• Add the frozen peas and heat the peas, stirring for a couple of minutes. The peas will be still frozen, just a little bit less so.
• Sprinkle the flour over the peas and stir to combine.
• Add salt to taste.
• Pour in the cold milk and bring it to a slow simmer.
• Simmer slowly, stirring continuously for 4-5 minutes.
• Adjust the salt and add the sugar.
• Finally stir in the chopped fresh parsley, cover and let the stew rest for 4-5 minutes and serve.
