Sarahs Pea Soup Recipes

Steps:

• If using bacon: In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, 12 to 13 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel. Once cool, crumble and set aside for garnish. If using ham hock: In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil, then brown the ham hock until golden, about 6 minutes. If making the soup vegetarian: In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the olive oil.
• Add the onion, leeks and garlic and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. (If the vegetables seem dry, add a little olive oil.) Stir in the carrots, paprika (if using), half the split peas, thyme and 8 cups stock or water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partly covered, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes until peas are tender.
• Mash the soup coarsely with a potato masher or give it a few quick blitzes with an immersion blender (watch out for the thyme sprigs). If you'd prefer a smoother soup, blitz until nearly smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 pound split peas and simmer about 1 hour, or until the peas are soft. If at any point the soup looks too thick, add more stock or water; if it looks too thin, remove the lid during the second simmer until it thickens. If using ham hocks, remove any meat from the bone, cut it into small cubes and stir into the soup. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with crumbled bacon, if using, and lemon wedges.

Steps:

• Dice bacon into 1/4-inch cubes. Place in a heavy 6-quart pot over medium-low heat. Cook until fat is rendered and translucent. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Cook until onion and garlic are soft and translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add split peas, stir to coat with fat, and add bay leaves and 2 quarts stock. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so soup simmers. Skim foam that rises to the surface for about 10 minutes, until no more appears. Add thyme leaves. Simmer uncovered about 1 hour or longer, until peas are soft and starting to fall apart. Add more stock, as needed.
• Remove soup from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Purée soup in a food processor in several batches, short of perfect smoothness; you should be able to spoon up some texture. Reheat soup, skimming off any foam. Stir from the bottom to mix well, then ladle into bowls and serve.

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, combine all ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until peas and vegetables are tender.

Steps:

• In a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker, combine the oil, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, smoked paprika, garlic powder, thyme, bay leaves, 2 teaspoons salt and a few generous grinds of pepper. Add the ham hock, split peas, stock and wine, and cook on low until the peas are tender, 8 to 10 hours.
• Discard the bay leaves. Transfer the ham hock to a bowl. Using two forks, pull the meat from the ham hock, discard the bone and return the meat to the pot. Stir in the lemon juice, then taste the soup, adding more salt and pepper if necessary. The soup will thicken as it sits; if it is too thick for your taste, stir in a bit of warm broth or water.
• Combine the sour cream, horseradish and mustard in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Serve the soup with the horseradish cream for topping.

Steps:

• Turn on the sauté setting on a 6- to 8-quart electric pressure cooker. Melt the butter, then add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, garlic, smoked paprika, garlic powder, thyme, bay leaves, 2 teaspoons salt and a few generous grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring, until fragrant and well combined, about 2 minutes.
• Pour in the stock and wine, and let the mixture come to a bubble, scraping the bottom of the pan. Stir in the spit peas and ham hock.
• Put the lid on the pressure cooker and turn the steam valve to sealed. Set to cook on high pressure for 18 minutes. After the cook time, turn off the heat and let the pressure reduce naturally for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually by twisting the steam valve to vent.
• The soup will thicken as it sits; if it is too thick for your taste, stir in a bit of warm broth or water. If you'd like the soup to be thicker, turn on the sauté setting and let the soup bubble with the lid off for a few minutes, to reduce. Discard the bay leaves, then stir in the lemon juice.
• Transfer the ham hock to a bowl. Using two forks, pull the meat from the ham hock; discard the bone and return the meat to the pot. Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
• In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, horseradish and mustard, and season it with a pinch of salt and pepper. Serve the soup with the horseradish cream for topping. (Split pea soup thickens dramatically when chilled, so if you have leftovers, stir in a little water or broth when reheating to loosen the texture.)