Amanda's Split pea soup

A family favorite throughout the ages. I think we all grew up eating pea and ham soup where mums would cook a massive pot of it and keep it on the stove in winter, it would feed us for days and tasted better with every helping. So here is my mum's version. But note that I have a massive 6 litre crockpot and this quantity fills it to the brim,  once cooked I take out half and freeze it, then add more water to the pot to thin it a bit, though I do like my soup really thick.Mum did her soup on the stovetop in a really big pot, It feed five of us for a week, I do mine in a 6 litre crockpot over about 8 to 10 hours in the final cook. 

I have made this using just a kilo of bacon and it tastes just as good.

So happy soup season enjoy !

what you need:

A large crockpot or a big soup pot.
2x bacon bones, ( fresh from the butchers}
1/2kg fresh bacon (rind removed) and chopped into pieces
2 large onions diced
4-6 cloves of garlic chopped in half

1 packet of split peas yellow or green or half and half, doesn't matter which ( rinsed)
2 medium to large sized parsnips diced
2 medium to large turnips diced

2 swedes diced
2 sticks of celery, leaves as well, diced
about 4 litres of chicken stock, I just use stock cubes, about 4 or 5
3 medium carrots diced
bunch of parsley chopped
lemon juice
ground pepper
olive oil
bay leaves
salt to taste ( but I don't use it)
2 sprigs of thyme

what to do:
I hate bits of  bone in my soup so I make all the broth first
in the crockpot put the bacon bones 2 litres of water and 2 chicken stock cubes, as well as the bay leaves and sprigs of thyme, cook on high for about 4-6  hours and let cool overnight in the pot.

The next morning remove all of the bones, bay leaves and sprigs from the broth keeping all the liquid and meat off the bones and set aside in crockpot turn onto high adding another litre of water to the broth and the remaining 2 stock cubes.

In the large pot add the olive oil and all the chopped veges and bacon pieces and fry off until they soften a little.

  

Then add to crockpot along with the split peas and garlic add remaining litre of water and juice of one lemon, parsley and pepper cook on high for at least 8 hours until the peas fall apart, if you like your soup really smooth hit it with the bamix or blender to make it smooth and creamy add more water if needed.
 Best served with hot buttered toast and don't forget the worcestershire sauce that is what makes pea soup special.This soup will taste better the next day and the day after that. It does freeze well .just put some cling wrap on top of the soup in an airtight container before you pop the lid on to freeze.

Amanda's split pea soup