Cooking with the Dutchess:
By Hanneke Eerden
Today’s recipe is another Dutch recipe, called split pea soup! It’s a soup that’s a whole meal on it’s own: it contains meat, potatoes and veggies and it’s quite heavy!
People over here in The Netherlands eat this most during colder periods, not in the summer, but I have to admit it tastes just as good on a warm evening. But it feels weird for me to eat it like that, it’s “not-done”.
This is the first time I’ve made this soup myself. Usually my Mom makes a lot of soup, and keeps it in the freezer so I can take some with me when I feel like it. Not this time, this time I made it myself!! And I’m proud of myself, because it’s got the same delicious velvet sweet taste as when my Mom makes it!
When thinking of split pea soup, I always think back to when I was a very young girl. We have a traditional feast here on the 5th of December called “Sinterklaas”. You can compare it with Santa Claus. Kids and adults get presents but he doesn’t have reindeer and a sleigh, this man has a boat because the story goes he’s coming all the way from Spain. And every year halfway through November “Sinterklaas” would arrive with his boat in The Netherlands. Yes that guy is always a bit early. But his arrival is always broadcasted live on television and I was so nervous every year again. That was when I still believed “Sinterklaas” really exists… you might know the feeling! And I was fascinated what a feast it always was, and how that man was able to buy so many presents for all the kids!! That day was also the day my Mom would serve this split pea soup for the first time during that season and I was allowed to eat my soup in front of the television (now it’s quite normal, but not back then!)! So as you might understand, I’ve got some good memories taking me back to my youth when I’m eating this soup!
How do you make this soup and what ingredients do you need? First, I have to mention that you have to make this soup one day in advance, once the soup is almost ready, you have to store it in the fridge. The taste will develop itself even more and better!
2 thick slices celery root
1 large carrot
2 leeks
1 large onion
3 large potatoes
5 brussel sprouts (optional)
1 package of split peas
1 beef stock cube
135 fl. Oz of hot water
1.5 lbs whole gammon on the bone
1 smoked ring sausage (optional), sliced
Clean and cut the vegetables and put them in a crock pot. Of course you can also use a pan, but keep an eye on it and stir every once in a while when using a pan.
Place the ham in the middle. Crumble the beef stock cube over it and pour the water in the crock pot. Add more water if necessary; the gammon should be completely covered.
Turn the crock pot on “slow” and let it cook for 8 hours, or until the meat is falling of the bone.
Discard the meat from the soup, and shred it. The soup looks very chunky now and you can eat it like this, but the best thing is to puree it with a (hand) blender. When that’s done you can add the shredded meat. Let the soup cool completely and put it in the fridge for at least one day.
The next day you can heat the soup and if you want to use the smoked ring sausage, you can add these slices now too.
As always ~ Bon Appetit
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