Saturday, April 6th, 2013

Ok, so this was one of - and I'm not kidding here - one of the most tasty things I've ever made.   It is SO SO SO simple to make - which is something that is important to me in terms of how many times I'll repeat it for the week.  It is so tasty and the lemon just MAKES it.  You'll never want a hamhock in your split pea soup again after you've tried this!

Vegetarian Recipe #9:  Split Pea Soup
1 sweet onion - chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced
2 cups dry green split peas
olive oil (2 tablespoons or so)
5 cups of vegetable stock
sweet smoked paprika
juice from 1/2 lemon

Add a good glug of olive oil to your soup pot.  Cook your onion and garlic until they're softened.  Add your vegetable stock (I added 2 cans of stock and 1 cup of water - College Inn brand is tastier than Swanson FYI...and Swanson turns cloudy, which I don't like).  Add your dried split peas and bring to a boil.  Then turn your heat down and simmer for 30-40 minutes (I finished mine on the earlier side because I like more al dénte peas).  The soup will become very thick.  At this point, ladle out half of the soup and blend it in a food processor or blender and then recombine.  Stir in the juice of 1/2 a lemon (this is CRUCIAL - the lemon makes it just so tasters). 

To serve, add a bit of olive oil on top + a pinch of sweet, smoked paprika and zest of your lemon. 

I adapted this recipe from one posted at the fabulous vegetarian blog 101 Cookbooks:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/vegetarian-split-pea-soup-recipe.html