Erbsensuppe, from My Berlin Kitchen by Luisa Weiss
3 T olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
1/3 C minced Speck or lean bacon
1 leek, white and pale green part only, cut in half lengthwise, rinsed, and sliced into half-moons
1 medium carrot, diced
1/2 small celery root, diced
1 T fresh marjoram, minced
Salt
1 1/2 C dried split green or yellow peas
5 to 6 C chicken or vegetable broth
3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
Freshly ground black pepper
4 Wiener Würstchen or hot dogs
1. Heat olive oil in 4-quart pot. Add onion and bacon. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes; add leek and stir well. Cook for another 7 minutes. Add carrot and celery root; stir well. Cook for a few more minutes. Add marjoram and a pinch of salt and stir.
2. Pour in dried peas and broth. Stir well and cover. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.
3. Add potatoes and stir well. Cook for another 20 minutes. Taste for salt and add pepper.
4. Cut hot dogs into bite-sized rounds and add to pot. Warm through and serve.
3 T olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
1/3 C minced Speck or lean bacon
1 leek, white and pale green part only, cut in half lengthwise, rinsed, and sliced into half-moons
1 medium carrot, diced
1/2 small celery root, diced
1 T fresh marjoram, minced
Salt
1 1/2 C dried split green or yellow peas
5 to 6 C chicken or vegetable broth
3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
Freshly ground black pepper
4 Wiener Würstchen or hot dogs
1. Heat olive oil in 4-quart pot. Add onion and bacon. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes; add leek and stir well. Cook for another 7 minutes. Add carrot and celery root; stir well. Cook for a few more minutes. Add marjoram and a pinch of salt and stir.
2. Pour in dried peas and broth. Stir well and cover. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.
3. Add potatoes and stir well. Cook for another 20 minutes. Taste for salt and add pepper.
4. Cut hot dogs into bite-sized rounds and add to pot. Warm through and serve.
Cassie's version
Just finished a bowl of this - delicious! Maybe the best split pea soup I've had. The flavors work really well together, with the salty bacon infusing the base of the soup, the marjoram pepping it up, and the vegetables providing contrast to the peas. I sadly did not have fresh marjoram, so used dried, though the brightness of the fresh herb would be lovely. I was feeling rather rule-bound today, so I changed the recipe only to add some lemon juice at the very end, and to incorporate the potatoes I had (a few mini yellow potatoes and a russet).* The only drawback to this soup, actually, is the final addition of hot dogs. The taste was nice, and they actually looked appealing floating in rounds in the liquid. But the texture was a bit strange for a cooked soup - the hot dogs were a bit too rubbery for my liking. Perhaps next time I would brown some sausage, drain it, and add that at the end - but apparently the more processed hot dogs/Wiener Würstchen are traditional. It's not bad as is, and it was definitely worth a try - just not ideal.
*A friend who grew up on a farm told me last night that what we buy as Yukon golds at the grocery store are usually mislabeled. A real Yukon gold potato has pink eyes; those without are simply yellow potatoes. I checked the mini "Yukon golds" I recently bought and their eyes are indeed yellow. I've been duped!
The biggest change I made was doubling Cassie's recipe so I could replenish my freezer soup supply. However, I will write about the recipe changes I made as if they were to the original recipe quantity so they are more understandable. There is probably some deep-seated reason why I almost always increase recipe quantities--hope that many guests will unexpectedly show up, fear of being without soup during a natural disaster, need to use up supplies in my always overstocked pantry--who knows? Thank goodness for a large freezer!
I slightly more than doubled the amount of bacon because where bacon is concerned more is always better. Sauteing bacon and onion--what could smell better? Well, even better was the smell after the leeks, celery root and carrot went in. Like Cassie I used dried marjoram--a generous teaspoon. I hadn't used a celery root in a long time and luckily this one was not the tough monster I remember encountering in the past. It was like a lovely mild celery-flavored turnip! Must remember to use one more often.
I used 3 cups of unsalted chicken stock and 3 c. of water since there was so much bacon and I didn't want it to be overpoweringly rich. I reduced the potatoes to just two to keep it pea soup instead of potato soup. Sliced hot dogs did not sound appealing to me. I love a hot dog but when they're sliced into dishes all I think of is stretching dishes with cheap protein to feed more people. Instead I added thinly sliced dry Italian sausage which added great flavor. The soup was a little thick then so I added a couple more cups of water. Cassie had warned me to be careful with added salt because of the salty bacon, but maybe because the stock was unsalted the soup actually needed a heaping teaspoon of salt at the end, plus a whole lot of fresh-ground pepper. Wonderful soup and probably the best pea soup I've ever made!
Ann's Version
The biggest change I made was doubling Cassie's recipe so I could replenish my freezer soup supply. However, I will write about the recipe changes I made as if they were to the original recipe quantity so they are more understandable. There is probably some deep-seated reason why I almost always increase recipe quantities--hope that many guests will unexpectedly show up, fear of being without soup during a natural disaster, need to use up supplies in my always overstocked pantry--who knows? Thank goodness for a large freezer!
I slightly more than doubled the amount of bacon because where bacon is concerned more is always better. Sauteing bacon and onion--what could smell better? Well, even better was the smell after the leeks, celery root and carrot went in. Like Cassie I used dried marjoram--a generous teaspoon. I hadn't used a celery root in a long time and luckily this one was not the tough monster I remember encountering in the past. It was like a lovely mild celery-flavored turnip! Must remember to use one more often.
I used 3 cups of unsalted chicken stock and 3 c. of water since there was so much bacon and I didn't want it to be overpoweringly rich. I reduced the potatoes to just two to keep it pea soup instead of potato soup. Sliced hot dogs did not sound appealing to me. I love a hot dog but when they're sliced into dishes all I think of is stretching dishes with cheap protein to feed more people. Instead I added thinly sliced dry Italian sausage which added great flavor. The soup was a little thick then so I added a couple more cups of water. Cassie had warned me to be careful with added salt because of the salty bacon, but maybe because the stock was unsalted the soup actually needed a heaping teaspoon of salt at the end, plus a whole lot of fresh-ground pepper. Wonderful soup and probably the best pea soup I've ever made!
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