Smoky Split-Pea Soup
I've been wanting to share a split-pea soup recipe for some time now, as it's a dead-easy staple that we've made for pretty much as long as we started eating more vegan food in our house yonks ago. It tastes ridiculously like the traditional 'Pea & Ham Soup' that you might be familiar with, as the secret ingredient, 'liquid smoke' adds a wonderful smokiness, without needing the hunks of ham in the soup at all. It's super filling and warm-hug like and made with very everyday ingredients which don't go off - making it something you can whip up without a trip to the grocery store (…potentially). As for the liquid smoke - it's definitely a health food shop/independent supermarket/online find. The super-handy thing with it is that it lasts forever because you only ever need a tsp-max at a time. Woo!
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 1 large or 2 small onions, finely diced
- 2 medium carrots, finely diced
- 2 celery stalks, finely diced
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 1/2 cups (300g) dried split peas, rinsed
- 2 medium potatoes, cubed into bite-sized pieces
- 6 cups vegetable stock (plus more as needed/if desired)
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1 bay leaf
- salt & pepper
- to serve: crusty bread & lemon juice
Method
- In a large pot, add a glug of olive oil and sauté the onion, carrots, celery and garlic until slightly soften and the onion is becoming transparent.
- Add the rinsed split peas along with all the remaining ingredients. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Cook with the lid on for about 40 minutes-total. Leaving the lid on for the first 30 minutes is a good idea, and stirring intermittently throughout the last 10 is a another good idea. Add some hot water towards the end if desired to bring it to your desired consistency.
- Serve with crusty bread & a squeeze of lemon juice if you wish.