Lentil and Pea Soup

One of our favorite soups is Lentil and Pea. The boys always referred to it as “green soup”.

Rich, thick, chunky, warm and comforting.

My favorite part – taking a chunk of bread and dipping it into the soup!

The evenings here are still cool and a steaming hot bowl of soup is a sure guarantee to warm you up. This recipe makes a good amount – which is great for leftovers! Leftovers are a must when I am knee deep in sewing projects. The guilt trip is draped heavily upon my shoulders when 5 PM rolls around and I haven’t even began to make dinner. Do you ever feel that way? No sweat if there are leftovers, right? What I would like to really say is this: make your own dinner!

Here’s the recipe:

Lentil and Pea Soup

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 Cup chopped onion
1 Cup dried brown lentils
1 Cup dried green split peas
3 3/4 lbs ham hock or pork hocks (smoked is better) – I prefer shanks because there is more meat on them than a hock
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 1/4 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
12 cups of water
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

In a heavy Dutch oven or large pot, add oil and cook onions and garlic till soft. Add remaining ingredients except carrots and celery. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to low. Cover pot and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Add carrots and celery and cook 40 minutes more, uncovered. When the hocks are cooked enough (the meat will be easy to pull from the bone) remove the hocks and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Discard the fat and bones. Add the meat back to the soup and cook gently till desired thickness. Makes 12 cups at 52 cents each. 136 calories per cup. You can double the recipe but the cooking time will also be doubled.

Serve with corn bread or buttered sourdough bread.

…back to sewing………….