Name: 2020 blackeyed peas
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 lb dry blackeyed peas, rinsed, soaked overnight, and drained; olive oil; 2 bay leaves; 1 onion, diced; 2 ribs celery, diced; 6 cloves garlic, minced; 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced; 2 whole dry chilies; 2 lemons, zested and juiced; 1 tsp sea salt; ½ tsp black pepper; 6 cups chicken stock (or water)

All the Sicilian kids growing up in Florida ate blackeyed peas, greens, and cornbread for the New Year—at their friends’ houses, because as usual there’s meatballs and sausage at ours…

I don’t live in the South anymore, but I make some variety of these peas each year to eat on New Year’s Day. I sometimes start with frozen peas to skip the soaking time, but dry beans are easier to find in The West, and so what’s a little soaking?

Don’t worry. You’ll love these light and lemony peas, whether you call them cowpeas or blackeyed peas or beans or fagioli or something else entirely.

Yields8 Servings

ingredients

1 lb dry blackeyed peas, rinsed, soaked overnight, and drained

olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 onion, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced

2 whole dry chilies

2 lemons, zested and juiced

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp black pepper

6 cups chicken stock (or water)

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a soup pot to medium-high heat. Add the bay leaves, onion, celery, garlic, ginger, chilies, and lemon zest and sauté until fragrant and softened.

Stir the soaked and drained peas into the pot and add the stock, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Add some water if you need it to cover the peas by about an inch. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cover (leave a little gap for steam). Let cook about 40 minutes, until the peas are completely tender.

Taste and add salt and pepper. Ladle into warm bowls and top with junktown gremolata, cilantro, bacon, or whatever you like. Pairs particularly well with irresistible skillet cornbread.

Ingredients