Yesterday was another cold and rainy day. When it came to dinner I defiantly wanted something warm. I decided I wanted some soup for dinner. I had been thinking about making pea soup for some time, but I had never made it before so I was always a bit hesitant to give it a try. My mom is the queen of pea soup making. Her pea soup always turns out well. It is nice and thick and the peas are completely dissolved. The ham gives it that traditional pea soup taste that only pea soup has. I wanted my soup to be just a good as hers so I got her to give me the recipe. Of course once again her pea soup recipe is another recipe that she has never written down, so she gave me the recipe verbally while I was making it.

My pea soup turned out really well, but it wasn’t as thick as hers usually is. I think it’s because we didn’t quite have enough split pea’s (she usually puts in 1 cup and I had a fair bit less then that) so next time I make it I will definitely be adding more peas to it. I also added perhaps a wee bit too much water to the soup initially. However my mom said to fill the pot ¾ full, but then she later said 2/3 full might have been better. This is the reason I really prefer written recipes. However after making this pea soup (and taking notes as I made it) I know have a recipe for it, to follow next time. My pea soup was still very yummy, hearty and warm. Perfect for the cold weather we had.

Here is the recipe

Mom’s Pea Soup
Serves 4-5

1- 1 ½ cups dried split peas
1 white onion
Deli ham
2 carrots
3 medium sized potatoes
2-3 stalks celery
½ cup lentils
½ cup barley
1 tsp salt
black pepper (to taste)
1 bay leaf
a dash allspice
a dash ground cloves

Fill a large pot about 2/3 full of water (use more water for a thinner soup). Bring water to boil. Add dried peas. Reduce heat once boiling to medium heat (as long as the bubbling continues. The peas need to boil for about 2 hours to dissolve). Dice the onion, and add it to the pot. Dice the potatoes, celery, and carrots, and add to the pot. Chop the ham to desired size pieces and add it to the pot. Add the salt, black pepper, cloves, allspice and bay leaf. Continue to boil on medium heat until 2 hours has elapsed from the time the peas were added. Once the two hours is up, add the barley and lentils (they don’t taste as good if cooked very long), and continue to boil for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.