Cream of Split Pea Soup

I made this delicious nutritious, credit crunch beating, soup for lunch today. I used green split peas, you could equally use yellow split peas or even red lentils. Today I made double the quantity, to put half in the freezer for another day….

Half cup of yellow or green split peas.
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbs sunflower oil
1 large potato diced
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 bay leaf
3- 4 cups of vegetable stock (or chicken if you choose)
salt and pepper
serves 4-6

method

1. soak the peas in hot water for an hour and drain
2. in a large heavy bottom pan, fry onion and garlic gently in the oil for 3-4mins
3. add the potato, celery, split peas, caraway and cook for another 5-6 mins stirring occasionally
4. put in the bay leaf and most of the stock, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer covered for 40mins. Remove the bay leaf and let soup cool for a few mins.
5. Puree in a blender, adding more stock if soup is too thick. Season, reheat and serve.

(This is a variation of a recipe from Sarah Browns Vegetarian Cookbook)

todays illustration © lois Blackburn please visit www.loisblackburn.co.uk for more