Crock Pot Split Pea and Lentil Soup

For a truly vegetarian soup, substitute vegetable bouillon for the chicken soup base. This recipe almost overflowed my 4-quart crockpot, you might want to halve the ingredients. I cooked it on high for the entire 8 hours because it was so full, but if you halve it, cooking it on low for the same amount of time will work fine.

• Ready In: 8 hrs 10 mins
• Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package  dried split peas
• 1 (16 ounce) package dried lentils
• 12  cups water
• 12  teaspoons  chicken soup base
• 4  carrots, chopped
• 1  large onion, chopped
• 2  celery ribs, chopped
• 2  garlic cloves, chopped
•  fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 2  tablespoons  italian seasoning

Directions

1. Dump it all in the crock pot.
2. Cook on high for 8 hours or until beans are soft.
3. If you like it creamy, puree some or all of it with an immersion (hand held stick) blender.
4. If you don't have Italian seasoning, any combination of oregano, basil, sage, rosemary, thyme and marjoram will work.
5. Serve with crispy French or Italian bread.