Split Pea Soup

Ode to Heidi 

Part 2.  

 

Split Pea soup is quite possibly my favorite soup! If it's on the menu, I'm ordering it. And I will often let a restaurant's soup decide whether or not I choose to eat there ever again. Most places get this soup wrong because so often the split-peas can make the final product chalky, chunky, and thick; Not how I like my soup at all. But done right, I'm in soup heaven. And if I may make a shout out to two place in L.A. that I think do Split Pea right, visit The Overland Cafe in Culver City, or Il Tramezzino in Beverly Hills. But it was only a matter of time before I tried my hand at split pea soup, because well, if you like things done right, you should (eventually) learn to do them yourself. At least in cooking, that's mostly true. Heidi's recipe calls for curry powder, but I didn't have any on hand so I just used a little turmeric, and it really helped to boost that green color in the soup. As in any soup, I recommend using a broth or Bouillon that you absolutely love. I always use Rapunzel vegan vegetable bouillon with no salt added. The bay leaf is my own addition, because both above referenced restaurants use it in their recipes, and it may just be the key ingredient to why I love this soup SO much! 

 

Split Pea Soup

(Adapted from Heidi Swanson's Green Lentil Soup) 

 

 
Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter or coconut oil 
• 1 large yellow onion chopped 
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 to 2 bay leaves, whole
• 5 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or bouillon cubes dissolved in water)
• 1 1/2 cups green split peas (picked over and rinsed) 
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 3 tbps. Indian curry powder or turmeric (optional) 
• sea salt 
• 1 bunch fresh chives, minced 

Tips:

• I don't like my food spicy, so I eased up on the chili flakes. Where Heidi's recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon, I used only 1/4 teaspoon. But the little hint of heat was a very nice addition to this classic. 
• If using bouillon cubes, start a pot of boiling water while you are cutting your onions so that you can add simmering stock to your soft onions in step two.

step one. Combine the 2 tablespoons of butter, onion, garlic, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes in a large soup pot over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onions soften (a couple minutes). 

step two. Add the vegetable broth or stock, and the split peas. simmer, covered, until the split peas are tender (30-50 minutes).

step 3. Prepare a brown butter drizzle. Warm 3 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and let it brown. When it starts to smell nutty and fragrant, stir in your curry or turmeric powder and sautee for less than a minute. Remove from heat.

step four. When the pea soup mixture is finished cooking, remove from heat, and stir in the coconut milk, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and puree with an immersion blender. Make as smooth or chunky as you like. Stir in half of the spiced brown butter to taste, and add more salt, if needed. If your broth was unsalted, you may add a few teaspoons of salt at the end.

Serve. Drizzle with remaining brown butter and sprinkle with chives.

This soup is a meal in itself. A buttered roll, or toasted baguette may be all you need to finish off your plate.