Greens, Field Pea and Cornbread Casserole

Submitted by Bren_in_L.R.

"From Garden&Gun magazine. This is the ultimate comfort dish and is uniquely Southern. The wet cornbread topping bakes in the oven, and the top gets crispy while the bottom gets steamed--like spoon bread. The field peas take approx 1 hour to slow simmer before being added to this recipe. Use lady peas, pinkeyed peas, blackeyed peas, crowder peas or a mix washed and picked over."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs
• Ingredients: 20
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 4 cups slow-simmered field peas (recipe follows)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb mustard greens (or your favorite greens, washed, stemmed and chopped)
• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1⁄2 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce (or more to taste)
• 1 cup fine cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1⁄2 cups buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 4 cups fresh shelled field peas (For the field peas ingredients and preparation.)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1⁄2 cup finely diced yellow onion
• 1⁄2 cup finely diced celery
• 1 thick slice country ham (or 1 small piece of smoked ham hock)
• 1 sprig thyme
• kosher salt and pepper

directions

1. Field peas preparation: In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and celery. Season with a little salt and pepper and saute until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ham, peas and thyme. Add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Simmer on low heat until the peas are tender, occasionally skimming, for 45 to 60 minutes. Break up ham into smaller pieces.
2. Heat oven to 400*F. Lightly grease a 9 X 13 inch baking dish and set aside. Warm prepared peas through if they've cooled and set aside.
3. In a large saucepan or 10-inch Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm olive oil. Add greens and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook, turning with tongs, until greens are wilted and tender, about 8 minutes. You may need to add a bit of liquid from the cooked peas to help wilt the greens.
4. Remove from heat. Pour off most of the cooking liquid from the peas and reserve. Add the cooked peas to the wilted greens. Stir in sour cream and hot sauce to the field pea and greens mixture, adding a little of the reserved pea cooking liquid to make a smooth sauce.
5. Spread the peas and greens mixture into the prepared baking dish and check the level of liquid. Add more of the reserved cooking liquid from the peas to come about halfway up the sides, and gently stir to combine. Cover to keep warm while you make cornbread topping.
6. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, salt and baking soda. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg. Whisk the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients, then whisk in melted butter. Carefully pour the cornmeal mixture evenly over the hot peas and greens mixture, covering the entire surface.
7. Bake until cornbread topping is set and lightly browned, about 30 minutes.