Late last year Karen and I were enjoying warm bowls of mushroom barley soup we’d made and it was so easy and so delicious we wondered why we didn’t make soup more often. We decided right there to try to make soup every weekend. So, starting today and for the rest of the year, we’re going to make a different soup each week. We hope to discover some great soup recipes, and to add a great staple to our kitchen repertoire. But mostly, we just want to enjoy the most basic comfort food: soup.
Soup is easy to make, a nice starter to a weekend meal that cascades into lunches during the week. So, every weekend this year, we’re going to try to make a pot of soup Each week we will try something new.
Won’t you join in? We’ll never be able to come up with 52 different soups to cook!
We’re starting out with a simple split pea soup. And I mean simple:
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 2 to 4 hours
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bag of dried split peas, rinsed
- 4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
- a couple dashes Allspice
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- Combine all ingredients in soup pot
- Bring to a vigorous boil
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 to 4 hours or until split peas are very soft or dissolved and the soup is not too thick.
- Optional: puree some or all of the soup with a hand blender.
- If the soup is too thick for your taste, dilute with water and/or stock, a half cup at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency.
If you want a vegetarian version but still want the smokiness of the bacon, you might try substituting a rind of salty cheese. I’ve used locatelli but have heard provolone works well: dice the rind, then fry in a scant mix of oil and soy sauce.
The verdict on our Split Pea with Bacon? I only used 2 strips of bacon, and it needed more. I also might add a little heat, perhaps a teaspoon of Colman’s mustard or some cayenne. But all in all it was a great warm comforting soup for a cold winter day.
