A not very Dutch, Dutch pea soup

My Mum doesn’t like soup. This is admittedly a rather sweeping statement, but one I do understand. Soup is so often a cheap filler it can feel like the slightly crap warm up act before the star of the show. I once worked in the kitchen of a hotel and was perturbed to hear that soup was an alternative to the waste disposal unit. Combine all the previous days leftovers with some chicken stock, blend, heat and serve. Now I am definitely a thrifty little madam but the way in which this was described made me wretch.

However, I do love a good bowl of soup, just as long as it’s a meal in a bowl. Mr B and I ate this for supper this evening with a baguette each (pigs!) – it didn’t need another course. In fact, I feel a bit too full at the mo.

Slight disclaimer to anyone remotely Dutch – this is my version of Dutch pea soup that bears little resemblance to the real thing. But we still quite like it here at Bell towers. Sorry to Mr Hex in advance.

Ingredients:

• 2 leeks, chopped
• half a head of celeriac, peeled and chopped
• 2 onions peeled and chopped
• 3 tablespoons of oil (any, I used CnD again!)
• chicken stock, about 3 litres, either the real stuff or made with a cube
• dried split peas, I used about a third of a standard box
• 2 x packs of bacon, cut into 1inch squares and fried until crispy
• 1 x pack of frankfurters chopped into quarters
• 2 x carrots, peeled, chopped and cut in half, then cooked until tender either in microwave or boiled on hob
• ground black pepper

Fry the leeks, onions and celeriac in the oil in a large stock type pot. Don’t let them colour, just soften – so a low heat is best. Then add the split peas and dry fry a little bit in the veggie oil mix, then add the stock. Add as much as you think you want in finished soup but be prepared for it to boil down a little. I made about 3 litres altogether.

Bring the soup to the boil and then let simmer for about an hour. After this I tend to leave the whole pot in the fridge overnight but you don’t have to do this. Then liquidise the soup until smooth – I use a hand held whizzy liquidiser thing for this. It’s very quick to do and easy to wash up. (You have to think of these things when you don’t have a dishwasher.)

Add the frankfurters, carrots, bacon pieces and then lots of black pepper. Leave on a low heat for another 10 mins then eat with bread and real butter.

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