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Swedish yellow split pea soup

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Most thursdays while growing up in Sweden, we were served pea soup. It was a yellow split pea soup with an occasional seed coating as the peas used were whole and the seed coats were removed as the soup cooked. The soup thickens even more from the brown mustard stirred into it and it also gives it a delicious flavor that goes well with the salt pork that is often served sliced to go along with the soup.

In addition to the pea soup, thin pancakes or crepes were served usually with lingon berries. This tradition originated somewhere in the 1500-1600 hundreds as Catholicism was spreading. Pea soup with salt pork was served on thursday as a hearty meal before the friday fast. Often domestic help had a half day off on thursday and the soup could be prepared to simply be reheated. The crepes or pancakes were served with Punch which is a sweet alcoholic drink like a liqueur, drizzled over them – this we did not get served in school.

The tradition still lives on somewhat and pea soup is still often served in schools, cafeterias or homes on thursdays.

While pea soup may not be fine cuisine that people would flock to high end restaurants for, it is a taste and memory of tradition and a very good soup.

Pea soup has a few real bonuses: it is cheap to make and quite easy, health wise it contains a lot of good plant protein and is lean while being filling. You can make this soup vegetarian pretty easily, even vegan.

Give it a try as a change from regular green split pea soup and treat yourself to some crepes for dessert.

Swedish yellow split pea soup

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Recipe by admin
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

30

minutes
Calories

kcal
Total time

0

minutes

Swedish pea soup is made with yellow peas instead of green peas. They cook and taste very similar. The peas in Sweden are sold whole and it adds a little time and effort to stir the soup with a balloon whisk after it has cooked to collect and remove most of the outer shells, though it does not have to be done.
The soup is traditionally served on thursdays with thin pancakes for dessert.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup 1 yellow split peas (about 1/2 lb – half of a 1 lb bag)

  • 8 cups 8 chicken or vegetables stock. Water can be used if you have none.

  • 1 Tbs 1 butter

  • 1 cup 1 onions diced

  • 1/2 cup 1/2 carrots diced

  • 1/2 cup 1/2 celery diced

  • 1 tsp 1 marjoram

  • 1/2 tsp 1/2 thyme

  • 1 whole 1 bay leaf

  • 1/4 tsp 1/4 ginger

  • 1 tsp 1 salt ** Salt amount will depend on your stock and what kind of meat you add. Go light and adjust when peas become soft.

  • 1/4 tsp 1/4 pepper

  • 3/4 cup 3/4 ham bone or (Ham, bacon, salt pork. Salt pork was traditional in Sweden with a thick slice served with the soup)

  • 1 Tbs 1 mustard – brown

Directions

  • Wash and peel and dice the vegetables as needed. Measure out all ingredients. Pick over the peas and make sure they are clean.
  • Heat the butter in a roomy soup pot on medium heat. When the butter starts to sizzle, add the diced vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes while stirring. Cook the vegetables until they are transparent and soft.
  • Stir the peas in with the vegetables and add the stock. Give it a good stir and add the seasonings. Bring the soup to a boil then lower to a simmer. Stir occasionally so the soup does not get stuck to the bottom and burn.
  • Add the salt pork, ham hock or ham to the soup. Check the peas after 60 minutes, if they are still pretty hard, increase the heat to a slow boil for 20-30 minutes and add liquid to make up for what evaporates. The soup should thicken and be close to done in about 90 minutes, make sure to stir occasionally as the soup thickens so it does not burn.
    If you increased the heat, watch carefully so the soup does not stick to the bottom or become too thick due to evaporation, lower the heat as soon as the peas become tender.
  • When the peas are tender, taste the soup and adjust the salt and seasoning. Remove the ham bone or salt pork from the soup and cut up the meat to return the meat to the soup along with the mustard which will thicken the soup more. Discard the bone. The soup thickens additionally after one or two days.
  • Serve the soup with some brown mustard on the side.

Equipment

  • Cutting board, paring knife, peeler, chefs knife, soup pot, spoon for stirring, measuring cups and spoons

Notes

  • Peas and beans sometimes take longer to soften. This may be due to older product, not enough heat or too much salt or minerals in the water. Check the date on the bag of peas or beans. Hold back most of the salt until after the peas have softened. If you run into this issue repeatedly, parboil the peas first in rapidly boiling water for 30 minutes to soften then proceed with the recipe. When increasing the heat or time cooking peas or beans, add water as needed to make up for what evaporates.

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