p soup.

I should start this blog post with a disclaimer...pea soup was not always my favourite. To be completely honest, I couldn't stand it! The look of that nasty pork hock sitting on the kitchen counter when my mom was about to start a fresh batch, the look of the murky water in the pot as the peas began to break down, and the smell! Not a very good way to start a blog about pea soup. I am pretty sure I have officially scared everyone reading from ever trying out this recipe.

But I can honestly say that I am now a fan. While the phrase "you'll learn to like it" never worked for my relationship with beer, it did with pea soup. I definitely think it's an acquired taste, much like other Dutch foods that come to mind...droppies (salted black licorice), pickled herring, and deer meat (which I have yet to become a fan of). Another disclaimer...that not all Dutch food is questionable. There are many Dutch treats such as Kroketten (Dutch croquettes), apple floppen (basically deep-fried apples) and Boeterkoek (translation..."butter" "cake") that are all guilty of increasing the size of my dearly named "inner-tube". For those of you wondering...it's that much loved extra bit of weight that us ladies seem to carry right under our belly buttons, wrapping all the way around...similar to a child's flotation device.

Back to my soup. Pea soup, specifically Dutch pea soup (as I can't speak for the French), is one of those types of soups that can serve NOT as an appetizer to a meal, but as the meal itself. It is so hearty and filling! There is much discrepancy among the Dutch on the proper consistency of a truly great pea soup. Some people like it runny, much like an ordinary broth soup, while others prefer it thick enough to double-time as a grout to fix those nasty cracks in your tiles. Feel free to increase or decrease the amount of liquids in this recipe according to your preference.


Dutch Pea Soup (Snert)
        (Serves 6-8)
 
- (8) cups of water or broth (chicken or vegetable)
- (500) grams green split peas
- (1 or 2) hunks of pork hock (also known as ham hock or pork knuckles) (optional)
- (2) bay leaves
- (3) cloves
- (250) grams of smoked sausage such as kielbasa (optional)
- (1) cup of carrots, sliced
- (1/2) cup of onions, chopped
- (1) cup of celery, chopped
- (1) tsp of salt (if using water and not broth), otherwise just a pinch
- (1/2) tsp of pepper


Put 8 cups of water or broth in a large pot on the stove. Add in the split peas, the pork hock, the bay leaves and cloves and bring to a boil. 

Cover the pot and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour (or until the peas have cooked to a purée), stirring occassionally to make sure the peas don't stick to the bottom. You will see the broth slowly turn to a vibrant shade of green!

Remove the ham hock from the soup. This is sort of the tough part. As best as you can, remove the thick outer skin from hock and cut the pork meat into little chunks. Add the meat back to the soup along with the sausage and cut up vegetables.

Cook gently for 30 minutes. Remove and slice the sausage and then return it to the soup. At this point your soup should be ready to enjoy. Make sure to give it a taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Serve immediately or feel free to do like I do and store in containers and freeze.