What’s For Dinner: Split Pea Soup With Bacon

Economical, tasty, and easy, split pea soup is a perfect winter meal. I’m sure there are thousands of recipes out there, but this is how I do it. It’s simple enough to make any time, even after working all day.

You should be able to find dry split peas for a dollar per pound or less. I use green, but yellow peas are good, too. If you are splitting pennies, you can use less bacon (just enough for flavoring), or do without meat altogether. I also sometimes use ham instead of bacon (if we have leftover ham), although I really like sautéing the vegetables in bacon fat.

Ingredients

6 cups chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth
1 lb. dry split peas
2 large carrots, sliced or chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
5 strips bacon (or pre-cooked crumbled bacon)
1 pinch salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. thyme leaves

Fry bacon and set aside on paper towel. Keep frying pan with bacon fat warm on stove. If using pre-cooked crumbled bacon, you can use bacon fat saved from another meal, or just use olive oil.

Using a 3-qt pot, bring broth to a boil, adding peas when it comes to a full boil. Allow to return to a boil and then turn down to simmer.

Meanwhile, turn the bacon fat up to medium/medium-high and sauté the carrots, onion, salt, pepper and thyme until onions are translucent.

Add the vegetable mix to the broth and peas. Cover and simmer for at least 45 minutes, or until peas are soft enough to break up into a mush. If the mixture seems dry, add water or broth during cooking. Add the crumbled bacon during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Serve with croutons. Makes 4-6 dinner servings.