Dutch Split Pea Soup

Submitted by PalatablePastime

"Keep this on hand when you go out jogging or exorcising. Makes a great rib-sticking soup. I sometimes vary the meat ingredients- in the pic posted, I used little smokies and a ham hock, same amounts."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 50mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 1 (1 lb) package split peas
• 2 quarts water
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper (to taste)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon leaf thyme, crumbled
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 large onion
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced (3 cups)
• 1⁄2 lb cooked ham or 1/2 lb ham hock, diced (whichever)
• 1⁄2 lb smoked sausage or 1/2 lb Little Smokies sausage, sliced
• 2 large leeks, well washed and sliced
• 2 large celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

directions

1. Wash and sort peas.
2. Combine peas, water, salt, pepper, bay leaf and thyme in a large pot or Dutch oven.
3. Press cloves into onion, and add to pot (if using a ham hock you may wish to add it now so it becomes more tender- but NOT the smoked sausage, as they split if overcooked).
4. Bring mixture to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until peas are tender, about 1 hour.
5. Remove the onion and bay leaf.
6. Puree soup through a coarse sieve or in batches in the blender (be careful not to burn yourself!); return mixture to the pot.
7. (I like to leave a little bit not pureed for texture).
8. Add potatoes, ham, sausage.
9. leek and celery.
10. Simmer uncovered about 25-35 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
11. Taste for seasoning and garnish soup with chopped parsley before serving.

Reviews

[canarygirl]

Yum!! It's been so cold here in Mn, and this soup was just the thing to warm the soul! I didn't pureé the soup, just left it as is, and cooked it down a little more. Total time on the stove was about 2 1/2 hours. This gave it the thickness I like, and there was no need for pureéing. I threw in a few carrots too. I used Spanish Chorizo for the sausage (it's what I had on hand) and that gave it a little zing too. Thanks for yet another great recipe, Sue!

 

[SaraFish]

This was absolutely the best tasting pea soup ever! I made it pretty much word for word except that I subbed diced carrots for the celery and leeks. I did puree the soup bvefore adding the meat and veggies and then I cooked it for quite a bit longer than 35 minutes (I cooked for about hour at low heat). The soup is aromatic, rich, warm, filling and tasty. It's meaty and smokey and just plain good! Try it! You'll love it!

 

[Chef Nourshe]

Oh yeah,this is great. Especially on a cold winter night (or day,as you like). Unfortunately my half-Egyptian kids don't like it,but I still make it for myself.:-)

 

[Chef Kate]

Excellent soup! The changes I made did not touch the 'bones' of the recipe. I used a huge sweet onion--cut chunks from each end and stuck the cloves in those and roughly chopped the rest of the onion. I used a smoked ham hock and some chunks of Virginia ham. I left the onion (but not the cloves) in the soup and cooked it down a bit longer than an hour at which time the peas and onions had already became soup--no need to puree. Along with the listed veg, I added cubed carrots; gave the soup good color and flavor. High marks from and second helpings for every one at the table.