Pea and ham soup
There is next to no effort involved in making this soup and it greatly benefits from being cooked in big batches. I used to volunteer cooking for a soup kitchen and occasionally made this soup. It's quite possibly the one of the easiest and cheapest way to serve 50 people a great meal for very little money.This soup can easily be made vegan by simply leaving out the meat. Contains no gluten, no dairy.
Ingredients
- 400 g dried yellow peas yellow split peas can be used
- 1500 ml water for soaking
- 1500 ml vegetable stock
- 500 g cured belly pork
- 2 onions peeled and quartered
- 1 thumb sized piece of ginger peeled and cut into large chunks
- 3 tsp dried marjoram can be substitued with thyme
- 4 whole cloves
- 5 allspice grains
- 12 black pepper grains
- salt to taste
- white pepper to taste
Instructions
- Soak the peas for 12 hours prior to cooking. If you use a pressure cooker, this step is optional.
- In a large saucepan, combine and all ingredients. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer covered until the peas are soft, roughly 2 hours.
- Occasionally stir the pot and skim off any foam and pea shells.
- I like my soup fairly thick, almost like a stew, but if you prefer your's thinner you can just add a bit more stock.
- Remove the chunk of belly pork from the pot, cut into pieces and place back into soup.
- Most Swedes will have a dollop of mustard on the side, but it's optional.
Notes
Pea soup, and pancake for dessert, is traditional to eat on Thursdays. Swedish pancakes are thin, like crêpes, and usually eaten with a dollop of cream and jam. If serving more people than just my husband and myself I tend to make what we call an oven pancake instead. This resembles a massive Yorkshire pudding. Recipe here.
To go the extra mile, if serving this to guests, try to get hold of Swedish Punsch. If you can't it's not terribly difficult to mix it yourself. Marcia Simmons has a good recipe here.