soup_in-bowl

Do you ever have one of those twilight zone moments where the word “coincidence” just doesn’t quite cut it? Well it is no secret that I love my friend Judy’s blog No Fear Entertaining (I also love Judy, of course) and we do keep in touch on a daily basis. So when I went to her blog a few weeks and saw this recipe, I was scared, but pretty much in a good way. See, this was the exact same soup recipe (except I added carrots, and garlic, and slightly different spices) I am posting here that I had made around the same time! Judy and I are just thinking too much alike these days! So why am I posting it, if she already did, and this is a back-logged post? Well because it was just that good, and so simple and satisfying, and if you missed it on her blog, then you can check it out here!

I bought some dried split peas at the grocery while back. I am a huge fan of lentils, and although split peas don’t qualify, I do usually classify them as a sort of culinary cousin. Both are fast to cook up with no soaking and both go great in soups and stews. I wanted to make split pea soup, but didn’t have any stock of any kind, or pork products to flavor it with. So I decided to challenge myself by making a vegan version. I looked up several recipes on line and then picked the best parts of all of them and put them together. This soup was incredibly tasty and I found that after a few hours, I needed to add more water as it was so thick and quickly turning into dip right before my very eyes! This was an extremely satisfying meal with fresh baked bread. The smoked paprika adds all the smoky flavor you need, you won’t even miss the pork! The next day we added some VT cheddar on top and that was even better (yet, not vegan anymore). Try it either way, I promise you will love it!

INGREDIENTS:

3 TBS olive oil
1/2 large white or yellow onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 fresh bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
2 c. dried split peas
5 c. water
juice of one lemon
smoked paprika and extra virgin olive oil as garnish

METHOD:

Heat up oil in a large pot. Add the onion, carrot, garlic and bay leaves. Sautee together until onions and carrots are soft. Add salt and pepper, peas and water to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer, stirring often, until the peas are soft (about 40 minutes). Place about half of the soup in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add it back to the pot and then add the lemon juice. Stir together and cook for about 10 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with a drizzle of very good quality extra virgin olive oil and smoked paprika. Delicious!