

What makes for quick and easy recipes? When making soup, one thing really helps: Start with boiling water. At The New Deli, we always bring the water to a boil first, then add the beans or peas. That way, we spend less time watching over the pot, waiting for it to come back up to a boil.
By adding the peas and veggies to the boiling water, it comes back to a boil more quickly. We then turn it on low for an hour or so, until everything's simmered into a thick, hearty soup.
Before getting this method down, the soup would take so long to come to a boil using the cold water that we'd forget about it. Next thing you know, it would overflow. Messy. And the bottom would tend to scorch. No fun!
Check out the
Proctor Silex Kettle. With its automatic shut-off, I can bring water to a boil, and not burn the house down if I forget about it. I love it!
There are a lot of split pea soup recipes out there; many call for a ham hock, which will certainly add plenty of flavor. If you have a ham hock on hand, go ahead and add it to this split pea soup recipe while the peas are cooking!
For The New Deli, we typically serve vegetarian soup recipes, so we leave the ham hock out. Other split pea soup recipes may also call for chopped bacon to be added. Again, we leave that out, and the soup's still flavorful.
This ended up being one of those low fat recipes, if only because it tasted so good even without any added fat. A healthy recipe too! For an extra fast, easy recipe, try cooking this in a pressure cooker. Done in no time. Serves 8.
Ingredients: