Split Pea Soup
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Add Fun to Your Meals with these Pea Soup Cooking Tips
Cooking for family and friends is a lot of fun and provides the opportunity to create delicious meals from breads to desserts. Soups are wonderful comfort foods and provide as much variety as any other course. We tend to think of soup as a warm dish and yet there are several types of soup traditionally served cold, such as gazpacho or creamy avocado soup.
You will even find some split pea soup recipes to serve chilled with a dollop of sour cream and some shredded cheddar cheese on top. Add fun to preparing, serving, and eating meals with pea soup cooking tips that provide the best results and often give helpful hints about preparing other types of foods.
Pea soup is best when using fresh or frozen peas and whole or split dried peas. Avoid using canned peas unless the recipe specifies their use. Remove frozen peas from the box or bag, put into a bowl, and allowed to thaw. Drain the water before using the peas. You should always clean dried peas first, whether they are from a bin or packaged, using these three easy steps.
Proper Way to Prepare Peas for Soup
- Spread the peas out on a cookie sheet and remove broken or imperfect peas, sticks, chaff and small rocks or pebbles.
- Put the peas into a bowl and rinse in cold water, stirring the peas to lift any dirt or debris you may have missed. Drain the water.
- Leave the tap water running and rinse the peas one more time, allowing the water to run over the edge of the bowl until it is clear. Drain and set aside.
How to Cook Split Peas
Soaking dried peas is common practice, but optional. Cook dried peas by bringing the liquid to a boil and reducing the heat to simmer. Leave the cover cracked open and cook about 40 minutes for split peas, whether or not they were soaked prior to cooking. Add an additional 5 to 10 minutes cooking time if they are not tender enough.
Dried whole peas need an hour of cooking time if they were soaked or two hours if not soaked. Whether or not they were soaked, dried peas tend to take in the liquid in the pot, so check the water level often, and add more if needed. Stir the bottom of the pot every ten minutes or so, as well. That reduces the chance of burning on the bottom.
Other Split Peas Cooking Tips
Other pea soup cooking tips abound and one includes the color of the peas. Most experts state the only difference between yellow and green split peas is the color and it is really a decision you have to make yourself, as others claim the yellow peas give a delightful mild flavor. A good measure of liquid to dried peas is one and a-half cups of liquid for each cup of dried peas. Maximize the flavor of the peas by allowing them to cook until tender.
Many ingredients blend well with cooked peas, including onions, ginger, dill, carrots, and garlic. Potatoes, leeks, parsnips, and turnips are other common ingredients found in pea soup, as well as pork and ham. By including favorite vegetables, meats and seasonings, the family gets a healthy, delicious filling meal that is fairly quick and easy to prepare.
