Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Tonight's Dinner: My Split Pea Soup

I am finally writing down the recipe for my split pea soup. I usually just make it off the top of my head (after glancing a half dozen split pea soup recipes to make sure I'm not missing anything major). Thankfully I remembered to jot down what I was doing this time!

2 bags split peas
1 onion
2 cubes chicken bouillon
6 carrots
2 bay leaves
2 tbs chopped garlic
1 pinch of pepper

Soak split peas in 12 cups of water overnight. Place in large stock pot on stove. Add chopped onion. Add 2 cubes chicken bouillon. Chop carrots and add to soup. Add bay leaves and garlic. Sprinkle in a pinch of pepper. Bring to boil, stirring frequently and then turn down to low. Simmer until peas are cooked (at least two hours, I plan on letting it simmer for four hours this afternoon).

This is a pretty big recipe which will probably feed our little family for three or four nights, so feel free to divide it to shrink it down!

Edited to Add:

My favorite split pea soup toppings to serve along side this recipe are:

Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Chopped Green Onions
Crumbled Bacon

And it did take a bit longer than usual tonight. It ended up taking between three and four hours before it really looked done (different oven). So just stir it every now and then and wait until the texture begins to look smooth!

7 comments:

  1. I don't know if I'm a split pea soup kind of person. I think it's the color and texture that gets to me. Maybe I'll try it some time but slim down the ingredients so I don't have to eat it for a long time if I don't like it. Or I could always send it with the Baron to work. The men don't seen to care what something tastes like if it's free they are going to eat it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I forgot to add the toppings! My favorite split pea soup toppings to serve along side this recipe are:

    Shredded Cheddar Cheese
    Chopped Green Onions
    Crumbled Bacon

    And it did take a bit longer than usual tonight. It ended up taking between three and four hours before it really looked done (different oven). So just stir it every now and then and wait until the texture begins to look smooth (I'll add a picture of the finished soup above too).

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't particularly care for split peas, but you can substitute lentils in that recipe. Lentils are great because you don't have to soak them (but they do need to be cooked for 2+ hours) though they do turn a brown color, but I still prefer them to split peas. I just use water instead of chicken bouillon or broth, and I add a little spice in the form of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Jill- That is so good to know! I have a few bags of lentils and I've been trying to figure out how to cook them!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You could still use the chicken bouillon and I use celery too, but you wouldn't have to. Just rinse the lentils before you use them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I made split peak soup last night in fact. Heaven in a bowl.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments and I read every single comment that comes in (and I try to respond when the little ones aren't distracting me to the point that it's impossible!). Please show kindness to each other and our family in the comment box. After all, we're all real people on the other side of the screen!