Pea soup nourishes my soul

I've been hooked on soup the past couple of weeks. I'm going to blame it on Heidi at 101cookbooks.com because she's always making soup -- I'm certain it was her pea soup that set my mind in motion. She's successfully given me her addiciton :-)

Last week, I made a barley-lentil soup, followed by a lentil-squash soup that I never posted to the blog. Now, I've pulled out a big bag of split peas and dug through my cupboard trying to find where I wrote down my recipe. Fortunately, I found it -- it's nothing earth-shattering, just my particular notes on ingredients and proportions I like.

The following pic isn't all that useful, but I really liked the look of the peas. The colors of green are just so cool. Yes, I spent more time taking pictures that I did in making the soup. For every pic you see in this post, there are probably 40 or so more on my hard drive. Thank god Joe is working late tonight - he would totally have freaked over the mess I made while doing my photo shoot.



Even though the soup is perfectly good on its own, but you can garish in many different ways. I added a few cilantro leaves and a light dusting of curry powder. The bowl is rimmed with smoked paprika so I can run my spoon against the edge as I scoop up each bite. Surprisingly, it's not as messy as you might think. Paprika adheres very well to a damp rimmed bowl. While I was washing dishes I was afraid it might not come off, but it did - whew! Sometimes a nice presentation is worth it.

The recipe creates a luxuriously smooth and rich soup, and the ingredients are completely inexpensive. I'm always pleased when I can make a satisfying meal without spending a ton of money on groceries. I usually purchase all of my dried beans/peas via the bulk bins, so it's even more affordable.

Although ham works perfectly, the soup is at its finest when made with bacon ... it's bite-off-your-arm good. I didn't want to add that much fat tonight, so opted for lean bits of ham that I had hanging out in my freezer. The soup still tastes amazing, just not *as* amazing as it could. Regardless, I still feel the urge to put on my slippers and robe to curl up on the couch after eating it. It just nourishes my soul.

Split pea soup
2 cups dried, split peas
7 cups water
1 lb. ham (or 8 slices uncooked bacon, chopped)
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
2 bay leaves
salt/pepper

Sort and rinse the peas, then place into a deep pot or dutch oven. Cut the ham into small cubes, and place half of the ham into the pot. Add the remaining ingredients.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cover and reduce heat to simmer. Continue cooking for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaves.

Using a stick blender, puree the soup in the pot. Be careful, this can be horrificly dangerous when the soup is still hot. If it splatters, you will have burn marks up and down your arms. As you blend it, the soup will become thick and creamy in texture. Stir in remaining ham and cook for an additional 10 minutes to heat through.

Serve topped with curry powder or smoked paprika. A dollop of sour cream is good on top, unfortunately I didn't have any on hand. You may also sprinkle with chopped chives or cilantro. Crumble some bacon, dash some cayenne, drizzle some sesame oil, scatter green onions, toss on the croutons -- the possibilities are endless!

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