Green Split Pea and Bacon Soup

I'mPat's Note:

From Super Food Ideas July 2008. Though I have listed chicken stock as per recipe I used a homemade ham stock. This bought back memories of New Years Eve parties that my parents used to have and there was always pots of mushy peas served. UPDATE- after making this several times now I have found the cooking time will vary between 25 to 45 minutes - I can only put it down to the split peas and that they may vary from packet to packet.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large brown onion (finely chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (crushed or minced)
• 1 1/4 cups dried split green peas (dried peas rinsed)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water (cold)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 125 g bacon (rashers shortcut rind removed)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika (to serve)
• 4 crusty bread rolls (to serve, I used bacon and cheese)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium high heat and add onion and garlic and cook stirring for about 3 minutes till onion is soft.
2. Add peas and stir to coat.
3. Add stock and cold water and bring to the boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and simmer partially covered for 25 to 45 minutes or until peas are tender (see note above).
5. Remove from heat and process half the soup in a blender or use a stick blender till smooth or do what I did and put the stick blender straight into the pot and process to your liking.
6. Return to pot or if you just used the stick blender, stir in lemon juice and cook for 3 minutes or until heated through.
7. While soup was cooking in the first 25 minutes, heat a frying pan over medium high heat and add bacon and cook till crisp or use Barefoot Contessa's Oven Roasted Bacon .
8. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel and drain.
9. Crumble into pieces.
10. Ladle soup into bowls and top with crumbled bacon and paprika and serve with a roll.

Reviews

[Acadia*]

This pea soup was delicious! I decided to cook it in my crock pot so I didn't have to baby sit it. I baked the bacon in the oven so there wasn't any additional mess. I cooked it for 8 hours on low and then used a blender to puree the soup! Made for Potluck tag.

[Karen Elizabeth]

Simple to make, we enjoyed this very much. I did find my peas took more like 45 minutes to cook, but I had allowed for that. A thick delicious soup with lots of flavour, I was generous with the bacon, forgot the paprika, and sliced some spring onions on top as well, we enjoyed the sharp onion with the soup! I made some garlic bread to go with this and we had ourselves a feast! Thanks for a simple and totally delicious supper, Pat!

[PaulaG]

This is a delicious and hearty pea soup. I omitted the olive oil, diced the bacon and rendered some of the fat. The bacon was then removed and crisped in the microwave while a small amount of the fat was left in the soup pot to add flavor and cook the onions and garlic. I was cautious about the liquid due to one of the reviews but ended up using the full amount called for plus a little extra. The peas did take about twice as long to cook as stated. This was served as suggested garnished with the crisp bacon, paprika and crusty bread.