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Recipe: Split Pea Soup
Last night for dinner I made a big batch of split pea soup, which I love and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jmpava does not care for. It's one of my favorite autumn and winter dishes: warm, filling, comforting, inexpensive, with a mild but distinct flavor. And it keeps beautifully, and freezes just as beautifully.
So even though it's just me who will be eating it, I made the whole six-person batch. Another portion has gone in the fridge for this week; four more will go in the freezer for later.
There's nothing particularly unusual or special about the recipe. It's just mine, and I like it. It does call for meat (specifically, bacon), but I have a note for how to convert it for vegetarians. I have been known to spice it up with curry spices or Middle Eastern spices, but, you know, often I just want the plain recipe, which tastes of peas and carrots and onion and garlic and thyme and bacon.
No pictures, because soup in general is hard to photograph well, and split pea, doubly so.
Serves six, eventually.
* You can make a vegetarian/vegan version of this recipe, but you need to make a few adjustments. The simplest is to just use vegetable oil in place of the bacon fat, and to add a couple of teaspoons of salt to the sauteeing onions to make up for the salt that would have been provided by the bacon. If you want to imitate the depth of flavor provided by the bacon, though, you can do so by using a tablespoon of soy sauce instead -- or by sauteeing a quarter-pound of crimini mushrooms with a little salt until they've halved in volume and turned a deep brown, and add those to the water instead of the bacon. To also make it vegan, simply omit the butter, which is primarily there for flavor.
First, finely chop the bacon. This is easiest if you briefly freeze it -- say, for 15-20 minutes -- just until it firms up. That'll keep the bacon from sliding around under the knife. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and render the bacon until it's starting to crisp but not too browned.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and place it in a soup pot, big enough to hold at least a gallon. (Reserve the bacon fat in the skillet) Add two quarts of water to cover and put over medium-high heat, and bring to a simmer. (Basically, you're making a 'broth' out of the bacon to extract as much flavor as you can. If you're using soy sauce or sauteed mushrooms instead of bacon, chuck them into the water instead.)
Meanwhile, heat the bacon fat (or vegetable oil, if you're using oil) over medium heat and add the carrots and the onions (and the salt, if you aren't using bacon fat). Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the onion is translucent and turning golden but is not browned. Add the butter and stir until melted, then add the garlic, bay leaves and thyme or tarragon. Cook until fragrant, about a minute. If you're using the white wine, add to the pan now and cook until the wine has almost entirely evaporated (oh, 5-10 minutes); if you're not, just skip that step.
Add the split peas and the onion mixture to the water and adjust the heat until you get a low but steady simmer. Taste the broth and adjust the salt, but err on the side of less -- you can add more at the end of cooking. Let simmer, gently, for about an hour, or until the split peas fall apart. You will probably need to add more water as it is absorbed by the peas and/or evaporates -- I added about a cup more, but I like my soup very thick; if you like thinner, add more.
When the peas have fallen apart, taste the soup, and adjust the salt and pepper to taste. I usually let it stand about 30 minutes before serving -- at these quantities it will remain piping hot, and you'll be able to better determine your thickness that way. (You can still add more water if it sets up thicker than you like.)
It keeps well in the fridge for several days, and freezes like a charm, which is why I always make the full, large batch.
jmpava does not care for. It's one of my favorite autumn and winter dishes: warm, filling, comforting, inexpensive, with a mild but distinct flavor. And it keeps beautifully, and freezes just as beautifully.So even though it's just me who will be eating it, I made the whole six-person batch. Another portion has gone in the fridge for this week; four more will go in the freezer for later.
There's nothing particularly unusual or special about the recipe. It's just mine, and I like it. It does call for meat (specifically, bacon), but I have a note for how to convert it for vegetarians. I have been known to spice it up with curry spices or Middle Eastern spices, but, you know, often I just want the plain recipe, which tastes of peas and carrots and onion and garlic and thyme and bacon.
No pictures, because soup in general is hard to photograph well, and split pea, doubly so.
Serves six, eventually.
- 3-4 strips of bacon (I actually used about 2 strips of bacon combined with 2 pieces of pancetta, but that's just because I happened to have pancetta on hand. Normally it would be all bacon. Ham hocks are great, but I don't usually have one on hand, and I think of this as a pantry dish, not a shop-for-it dish.)*
- 3 quarts water
- 1 lb split peas, picked over and rinsed
- 2 medium white onions or 1 large leek, thinly sliced
- 2 medium carrots, chopped finely (or, well, about the size you'd want to eat carrots in soup)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 5 cloves garlic (Most recipes call for more like 2 cloves garlic; I eat so much garlic that I automatically increase the amount. You can decrease it again if you're less of a garlic fiend.)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp dried or 2 tbsp fresh thyme (I have also used sage and tarragon, when I don't have thyme on hand)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
* You can make a vegetarian/vegan version of this recipe, but you need to make a few adjustments. The simplest is to just use vegetable oil in place of the bacon fat, and to add a couple of teaspoons of salt to the sauteeing onions to make up for the salt that would have been provided by the bacon. If you want to imitate the depth of flavor provided by the bacon, though, you can do so by using a tablespoon of soy sauce instead -- or by sauteeing a quarter-pound of crimini mushrooms with a little salt until they've halved in volume and turned a deep brown, and add those to the water instead of the bacon. To also make it vegan, simply omit the butter, which is primarily there for flavor.
First, finely chop the bacon. This is easiest if you briefly freeze it -- say, for 15-20 minutes -- just until it firms up. That'll keep the bacon from sliding around under the knife. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and render the bacon until it's starting to crisp but not too browned.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and place it in a soup pot, big enough to hold at least a gallon. (Reserve the bacon fat in the skillet) Add two quarts of water to cover and put over medium-high heat, and bring to a simmer. (Basically, you're making a 'broth' out of the bacon to extract as much flavor as you can. If you're using soy sauce or sauteed mushrooms instead of bacon, chuck them into the water instead.)
Meanwhile, heat the bacon fat (or vegetable oil, if you're using oil) over medium heat and add the carrots and the onions (and the salt, if you aren't using bacon fat). Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the onion is translucent and turning golden but is not browned. Add the butter and stir until melted, then add the garlic, bay leaves and thyme or tarragon. Cook until fragrant, about a minute. If you're using the white wine, add to the pan now and cook until the wine has almost entirely evaporated (oh, 5-10 minutes); if you're not, just skip that step.
Add the split peas and the onion mixture to the water and adjust the heat until you get a low but steady simmer. Taste the broth and adjust the salt, but err on the side of less -- you can add more at the end of cooking. Let simmer, gently, for about an hour, or until the split peas fall apart. You will probably need to add more water as it is absorbed by the peas and/or evaporates -- I added about a cup more, but I like my soup very thick; if you like thinner, add more.
When the peas have fallen apart, taste the soup, and adjust the salt and pepper to taste. I usually let it stand about 30 minutes before serving -- at these quantities it will remain piping hot, and you'll be able to better determine your thickness that way. (You can still add more water if it sets up thicker than you like.)
It keeps well in the fridge for several days, and freezes like a charm, which is why I always make the full, large batch.