Split Pea Soup

© Nick Young

Split pea soup is usually made with ham hocks for flavor so I was somewhat wary as to how this vegetarian version would turn out. However, with a little creative flair I ended up with a very tasty soup!

1 lb dried split peas
6 cups of water
1 bunch spring onions
1/2 bunch cilantro
2 cubes telma Vegetable soup & seasoning
Sun dried tomatoes (I prefer the kind in jars with olive oil.)
Grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook the split peas in the water according to the package instructions, usually about 20 minutes.

When ready, pour off some of the water and crumble in the soup cubes. Remove the green part of the spring onions, the stalks of the cilantro and add to the pot. Simmer fairly rapidly until the onion tops and cilantro stalks have softened. Blend everything throughly with a hand blender, I like the soup fairly thick but you can add a little water to correct the consistency if you wish.

Serve the soup garnished with the sun dried tomatoes, chopped spring onions, cilantro springs, a drizzle of the olive oil from the tomatoes and, if you wish, some grated parmesan.

Of course you can garnish with anything you like but I really like the contrast the sun dried have with the split peas.

Enjoy!