YELLOW SPLIT PEA AND FRANKFURTER SOUP
 NIGELLA

Photograph by James Merrell

INGREDIENTS

1 onion 500g
1 carrot
1 clove garlic
1 stick of celery
2–3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
500g yellow split peas
1.25–1.5 litres chicken or veg stock
2 bay leaves
approx. 8 frankfurters
Serving Size : Serves 6–8
METHOD

1.Peel the onion, carrot and garlic and cut the onion and carrot into rough chunks. Put them all, along with the roughly cut up stick of celery into the bowl of a food processor. Blitz till all are finely chopped.
2.Spoon the oil into a heavy-based wide saucepan and put on medium heat.
3.When warm, add the chopped vegetables from the processor and cook for 5–10 minutes, until soft but not coloured.
4.Add the ground mace – this may be a small amount but it’s crucial to the taste – give a good stir and then add the split peas and stir again till they’re glossily mixed with the oil-slicked, cooked-down vegetables. Pour over 1.25 litres stock and add the bay leaves, then bring to the boil. Cover, turn down the heat and cook for about an hour until everything is tender and sludgy, adding more stock as needed. Sometimes the peas seem to thicken too much before they actually cook and need to be watered down. Taste for seasoning once everything’s ready.
5.You can add the frankfurters as you wish. It’s probably easiest just to cut them into slices – I tend to add them in chunks of about 3cm each – and throw them into the soup to warm, but I just put them into the microwave (40 seconds on high is about right for one or two franks; fiddle about with times when there are more), then slice them hot and add them to each person’s bowl as they come. Not an elegant soup, I’ll admit, but a near-perfect one.
ADDITIONAL INFO

As ever, when I signal stock, I don’t mean you have to start boiling up chickens or whatever. I use some concentrated broth that comes in little bottles and mix it with water as indicated on the label.

REVIEWS

I made this over New Year and it has become a firm favourite. It tastes fantastic, and is made up of things I generally have in the house anyway

FallenAngel

This looks soooo scrummy! I am making it tomorrow and can't wait to tuck in! Does anyone know if you can freeze this as would like to freeze half for another day...?

RudieFoodie

Finally made this and it's delicious! Unfortunately couldn't find Mace, but I grated in a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of paprika which tasted nice. Also, I found I needed the entire 1.5 litres of stock and had to cook it for an hour and a half as the lentils were still too hard after an hour or so. Yum yum!

RudieFoodie

Delicious!! I froze half in individual portions without adding the frankfurters and it works great. You do need to add a little extra water when you reheat the soup. Then blitz the frankfurters in the microwave for a few seconds, chop and add :)

Baileyhouse

Very hearty comfort food. Only prob was that I could not taste the mace in the end result. I used strips of mace which I ground with a mortar and pestle. Will use double next time as we like big flavours in our household.

Angeldrawers

This is a hearty and comforting soup, and I love serving it with the frankfurters because it just seems so retro. But it is delicious and we have made it several years in a row for New Years Day, which I think is a lovely tradition to keep. Though, I do also make it at other times throughout the year.

cremebrulee

This recipe cries out for a good ham stock. For texture I tend to grill the frankfurters - this dates from childhood.

AngelOTN
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