Split Pea Soup with Chicken Recipe

My Split Pea Soup with Chicken

The other weekend, I went to Acme Cafe for a nice loner lunch. I hadn't been there in a couple of months and I thought it would be part of a nice change from the old routine. After my first bite, I instantly regretted that I was paying money for such crap.  I had the Quiche Special with a side of Soup. The Quiche was salty beyond belief (with too much over-powering brie) and the Split Pea soup was tasteless with under-cooked peas.  I ate about 1/3 of my meal and gave the rest away to the homeless.  Still craving Split Pea Soup--I decided to make it at home.  For the record, I dislike blended soups--I like to see what I'm eating and I have my latter years to eat mush.

Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 Yellow Onion, finely chopped
2 sprigs parsley, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 whole carrots, peeled & diced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
A good pinch of dried thyme, paprika and chopped fresh rosemary
1  cup green split peas
6 cups liquid (4 chicken broth and 2 water)
Browned small chunks of ham or chicken for garnish

Brown the vegetables in wok in the olive oil about fifteen minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Start the vegetables off on high heat and quickly turn the heat to very low, stirring frequently. After the vegetables have browned, add the dried thyme, paprika and chopped fresh rosemary. Mix well.

In the meantime put the peas (it’s not necessary to soak split peas prior to cooking) and the broth and water into a large stockpot. After the vegetables have browned, add to peas. Bring to a boil, turn heat to low, cover and cook 1 – 1 ½ hours or until peas are tender. Add more liquid if necessary and check for seasonings. Garnish with small chunks of browned ham or chicken.