Okay, I admit its been a bit since we posted. Life got just a touch busy and birthdays consumed our time. Tim turned 51 and I turned 43. We were too busy celebrating and got off track. BUT! I’m back. Coincidently, our weather cooled off too! Well when Tim left one Monday for one of his evening classes I made homemade split pea soup for Pop and me. Tim doesn’t like it so, I waited until he had a class day. Here is my version of spit pea soup. I am mindful of the salt so add or don’t add to your taste.
Split Pea and Bacon soup
2 1/25 cups of rinse and drained split peas
1 lb of bacon. I like smokey bacon, thick cut with a good amount of fat on it
1 onion rough chop
1 celery stalk rough chopped
2 carrots. Peeled and chopped.
1 large potatoe. Peeled and cubed.
4 1/2 cup water
1 cup of good white wine. If you don’t cook with alcohol use another cup of water.
1 spring or 1 tbs of thyme
2 bay leaves. Good sized ones
Pinch of cayenne
salt and white pepper to taste.
****First off let me clarify one thing. Most recipes tell you to soak the peas overnight in water to soften. I NEVER can remember to do this. So this is my quick version. As long as your soup can simmer for two hours, it will come out fine.
First dice your bacon up and add to a large pot over medium heat. Render your bacon to get the fat out. Don’t cook the bacon! It doesn’t need to be crispy. Just get some of the fat from it. It takes about five minutes. Remember NOT CRISPY! Remove bacon to separate bowel and toss in onion, carrots and celery into the bacon fat. I leave all the fat in. Add one teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of white pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes til onions are becoming clear. Pour in the wine and deglaze the bottom of the pot. Now the easy part. Pour in all the water, add the bay leaves, thyme, bacon, cayenne, potatoes and the peas. Add one tablespoon of salt and one teaspoon of white pepper. Bring it all to a boil, then remove and cover. Simmer for two hours. Check and stir as needed. If the water level is below the peas, add to cover.
This is when I usually go online and shop or watch some home improvement show. Meh….maybe even do some laundry.
After two hours taste. Remove bay leaves. Add salt if needed. Now the tricky part. If you have an immersion blender, blend away on medium spead. If not, blend soup in batches in your blender. Remember in your blender do it in small batches so it doesn’t fly out the top. I happen to like my split pea soup smooth, so i blend the hell outta it. If you like it chucky, blend less. When all this blending in done, add back to pot and simmer to warm. Readjust seasonings to taste. Don’t be suprised if you have to add more salt. Do it slowly. Too much salt is hard to fix, better to add in small amounts.
Serve with cuban crusty bread and croutons for the top of the soup. It freezes well. When reheating add water to thin.
Enjoy!
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