Split Pea Soup with Prosciutto

Split Pea Soup with Prosciutto

Every once in a while I crave a good split pea soup. It always brings back memories of frosty winter afternoons spent at my Grandma Robert’s house in Three Hills, Alberta. Her soup was nothing like the musty, pale sludge that comes from cans and chain restaurants. Nope, her split pea soup was thick and savory with strong ham flavor, a gorgeous vibrant green that beckoned tasting.

A week ago I looked my dwindling finances square in the eye and embarked on an Eat As Cheaply And Deliciously As You Can campaign. As I contemplated recipes and eyed my pantry contents, soup seemed to be the most economical route for menu planning. First I made a lovely Chicken Soup with Cilantro and Lime then tackled a hearty split pea.

There’s something quite soothing to me about rinsing and sorting dried peas and beans. Perhaps it’s reminiscent of playing with pebbles at the ocean’s edge, the hard legumes made smooth and slippery by the water, cascading through my fingers in a pleasing fashion. Whatever the reason, I like it. 🙂

Split Pea Soup
After the peas were rinsed, I left them to dry in a colander while I chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic. I sauteed the onions until they were transparent, then added the rest of the vegetables, split peas and bay leaves, and covered the whole lot with chicken broth. While this simmered, I got out the prosciutto, chopped it into bite-sized pieces and fried them until they were nearly crispy.
When the peas were soft, I added the prosciutto and hot milk, stirring until thoroughly mixed in.
Working in batches I blended the soup, leaving about 1/3 not blended because I like my pea soup a bit chunky.
pea soup

 

Split Pea Soup with Prosciutto

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon bacon fat
2 medium carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
16 ounce package dried split peas
8 cups chicken broth
1 package prosciutto, diced and fried until almost crisp
1 cup hot milk
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, heat bacon grease and fry onions, carrots, and celery until soft.
  2. Add the garlic, bay leaf, and split peas and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
  3. Add the broth and prosciutto, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour or more, until the peas are tender.
  4. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Remove bay leaves and discard.
  5. Add the milk and, using a hand-held blender or potato masher, process until smooth. I like mine a bit chunky, so I only puree two-thirds of the mixture.
Snowy Jaunts and Warming Soup

Snowy Jaunts and Warming Soup

After a wonderfully jolly weekend of trips up to the snowy mountains and into Canada, and good ol’ visits with friends and family, it’s time to knuckle down and get ready for my week.

Nooksack River

Nooksack River, WA

I’m a busy girl these days, working full-time, freelancing for a newspaper and blogging five days a week. As much as I love to cook, by the time I finish my work each day I’m exhausted and all I want to do is curl up with a book and have food ready to eat.

Thus, every Sunday evening is spent in my kitchen, preparing foods that work beautifully as leftovers for the work week ahead: savory tarts, stew, casseroles, pretty much anything healthy that can be divided up easily and reheated.

This Sunday, after two days spent outside in freezing rain and deep snow,

Apple in the snow

I wanted to warm my bones with hot, soothing soup. I didn’t have the ingredients for “real” soup recipes, so I got creative, making it up as I went. It turned into a lovely chicken soup, thick and hearty with carrots, celery, onion, potatoes and barley,  and cilantro and fresh lime juice to zest it up. With tortilla chips on the side, it’s the perfect lunch for a rainy Washington day.

Chicken Barley Soup

Chicken Barley Soup with Lime and Cilantro

Chicken Soup with Cilantro and Lime

Ingredients:

8 cups chicken stock
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1/3 cup barley
1-2 tsp dried cilantro
1 large can chicken, shredded
ground black pepper to taste
1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions:

  1. Combine everything but limes and bring to boil.
  2. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender and barley cooked.
  3. Serve with limes and fresh cilantro.
Sick Girl Monday

Sick Girl Monday

It’s pouring rain and I’m curled up on the couch under a quilt trying to get better. 🙂

Feeling perfectly blechy I will simply share a photo today, one of my absolute favorite tarts: Blueberry Cherry Tart with Maple Cream. Gnite!

Blueberry Cherry Tart

The perfect thing to made a sick day better