Norman’s Yellow Pea Soup

Norman’s Yellow Pea Soup

As soon as football season starts up, I start getting a taste for pea soup. More times than not, I find myself making pea soup on Sunday during the game. I make both green pea and yellow pea soup, but please don’t think that these colors indicate a possible Packers fan. Nothing could be further from the truth. Only the Vikings rate higher on my dislike scale.

Now, contrary to what you might think, there is a little more involved in making this soup than simply taking a yellow pea. You are going to have to make a stock first. But as you can see, it is not to complicated. And, remember that a good soup is an essential part of a balanced meal. Along with fresh baked bread, it is one of the things that makes us civilized.

If you like, you can use whole peas for the soup. They have thin little skins which add to the texture of the soup. I use whole peas quite often.

For the stock:

1 bone from a good roast ham

1 onion - quartered 2 stalks of celery

4 branches of parsley 2 bay leaves

Water

For the soup:
3 stalks of celery - minced

2 large onion - chopped 

4 carrots chopped

2 small hot peppers - minced

1 lb. split yellow peas - sorted and rinsed

1 tsp. cajun seasoning

1 cup (or more!) chopped roast ham 

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. oregano

Tabasco

Preparation

To make the stock, take a large stock pot and place the ham bone in it along with the onion, celery, parsley and bay leaves. If you want, throw in a tsp. of black peppercorns, I do. Fill it up with enough water to cover the bone and bring it to a boil. Now think. You are going to make a whole pot of soup with this stock, make sure you add enough water, about 5 quarts. Let it simmer gently, covered, for two hours.

Take the ham bone out of the stock and remove the meat for the soup. Strain the stock into a large soup pot and discard the stuff in the strainer. Place the soup pot on the stove over high heat. Add the celery, onion, hot pepper, rinsed and sorted peas, the cajun seasoning, oregano, thyme and the chopped ham. Add the ham bone back in if you like. Bring this to a boil, reduce the heat and, stirring frequently, simmer the soup for another two hours or so. You will know when it is ready when the peas have pretty much fallen apart and the soup is semi-thick. 

Now if you started with four gallons of stock your soup will probably be too thin. Otherwise it should be just right. Taste to see if you need to adjust the seasoning. It might need some Tabasco or just some cajun seasoning, salt and pepper. My guess is that it will need a lot of Tabasco, but you be the judge. (Iʼm getting permissive in my old age.)

Serving

You must remember that as good as this soup is, it’s not a meal. It is just the first part of a good meal. Serve this soup with a tablespoon of fresh grated parmesan stirred into each bowl as a first course. When you add a salad, warm bread fresh from the oven, lamb chops charred nice and rare, and then some broccoli, youʼll be getting close. Once you open a bottle of Tempranillo, you’re good to go.