Nostalgia Soup

by Elizabeth Kelly

Conversations about food happen often when my son and daughter-in-law come to dinner as they both worked in the food industry and my daughter-in-law went to George Brown College for their culinary program. During one meal, my son surprised me by saying how much he liked split pea soup, surprised me because I don’t ever remember him eating it. I made it for my daughter a lot.

When I asked him to come over for a day to help me put my new standing desk together, I made him some pea soup for lunch and extra to take home for the freezer. I have made this recipe many times over the years. It comes from a cookbook that belonged to my grandmother. The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, first published in 1954. I have the 1965 printing.

The original recipe calls for cooking a meaty hambone with the split peas and then cutting the meat off the bone and adding it to the soup. I have never done that. I have always made it with diced ham.

This is a fairly easy soup to make with familiar ingredients you might have on hand. What I like best is that you can get it started without having everything ready. I must admit though, I have done that only to discover that I was missing an ingredient. Now at least, I get everything out even if I don’t start chopping and cutting until the peas are soaking.

The biggest challenge making this soup is making sure you have fresh split peas. If you don’t the peas will not break down very much. If your peas are old, I recommend you purée about half the soup in the blender.

My son certainly enjoyed the soup. It is not a soup that he would chose to eat as an adult, that it was something out of his childhood. When he told me the memories in evoked, I realized that I had in fact never made it for him, his Gran had. He just kept saying it was good, and seemed stuck there, in the childhood memories.

For me, I don’t often eat the soup with the ham in it, instead adding other herbs and spices, and often quinoa. The flavour of the ham dominated for me the carrot and celery were distinct but subtle, lightening the earthiness of the peas. I found myself in the past as well while it was cooking, the aroma reminding me of the countless times I have made this soup. For us, the main ingredient was nostalgia.

This is a great for a big batch cook as it freezes well. I am a soup lover and my love of creamy soups came from this recipe. I have used this method, of cooking legumes until they are soft to make other creamy soups to reduce the fat in the soup and make it gluten free. White beans make a nice creamy mushroom ginger soup and you can substitute lentils for the split peas in a pinch. I have even dehydrated this soup for camping and canoeing trips.

Pea soup takes a while to make but most of that is cook time, That doesn't mean it's a difficult soup to make. If fact, it's quite easy. Just don't give into temptation to throw everything in the pot at once, add a little patience as you go and you will end up with a hearty soup perfect for a cold winter day.

Rinse the peas under cold water and place in a stock pot with the stock. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for an hour.

Return to the heat and bring to a boil. Add onions and freshly ground pepper, reduce the heat and simmer, without boiling, for 1 ½ hour, stirring occasionally.

I prefer to cook the peas uncovered for a thicker soup but you can cover for all are part of the hour and a half, depending on how thick you like the soup.

Once the peas have cooked and softened, whisk as much or a little as you like so that it becomes creamy. If your peas are old and don’t break down, cool the soup and purée at least half the soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a conventional blender, using care if the soup is still hot. Return to the pot.

Add carrots, celery, and marjoram.

The recipe indicates diced carrots and celery. Dice them to your preference. I prefer a small dice, but larger works just as well. For the ham, I usually dice this up quite small.

The ham can be added at the end, before any additional seasoning is added as the ham will add quite a bit of salt to the soup. Wait until the vegetables are cooked before tasting and adding any salt.

Split Pea and Ham Soup

Yield: Makes 6 cups

Serving Size 1 c, Serves 6

Equipment: 4 quart (4 L) stock pot, chef’s knife, cutting board, measuring cup, measuring spoon,

Ingredients

2 ¼ c split yellow peas, rinsed

8 c chicken or vegetable stock

1 ½ c thinly slice onion

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 c diced celery

1 c diced carrot

1 c dice cooked ham

1 tsp dried marjoram

Salt to taste

Method

Place split yellow peas and stock in a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 1 hour.

Return soup to heat and add onions. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 1½ hours, making sure the soup doesn’t boil and stirring occasionally to prevent the soup from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Whisk the soup to completely break down the peas and make the soup creamy. Add celery, carrots, and marjoram, and finally the ham. Continue cooking on a simmer until vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

Serve with croutons sprinkled top and crackers or flatbread on the side.

Store in the refrigerator up to 4 days or the freezer for 3 months. Cool and freeze in potion size servings for a quick meal.