2056. COUNTRY SPLIT PEA SOUP with BACON and POTATOES

makes 8 to 10 servings


3 tablespoons butter
1 large Spanish onion, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, sliced
8 large carrots, peeled and sliced
3 whole cloves garlic, peeled
1 pound dried green split peas
10 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons dry sherry
5 dashes Tabasco sauce
2 cooked Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
12 slices bacon, cooked until crisp (reserve some for garnish)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Melt the butter in a 6- to 8-quart pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. Sauté for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the split peas and chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for 1 hour, or until the split peas are soft and tender.

Remove from the stove. Add the sherry and Tabasco sauce. Puree the soup in the pot using a hand blender, or work in batches with a regular blender until smooth. Add the cooked potatoes and bacon. Stir to combine thoroughly. Garnish each bowl with crumbled bacon.


bacon recipe courtesy of: New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Nation's Best Purveyor of Fine Soup by Marjorie Druker and Clara Silverstein. Thomas Nelson, 2007