Hey everyone, Merry Christmas to all of you and your loved ones on this second Christmas day! It's a great time for spending the extra time with our family and we used some of this extra time to make a soup that is a winter tradition in my country, called 'erwten soep' and, when it is left for one night the soup will thicken and then it's called 'snert'.
Don't make this soup as an appetizer, it's the main course and can be eaten with some bread on the side.
I made this soup together with my youngest daughter, it's nice to teach them how to prepare meals and teach them the skills needed to do this and it's part of raising them to be good self sustaining adults I think, it's also good to spend the extra time together to stay in touch, because as a father I'm working most hours when they are at home on work days.
As far as I know, it’s not typically Dutch. It is a traditional dish in the Netherlands, but there are legume-based soups all over the world. For example, they’re also quite common in Scandinavia. Such hearty soups exist worldwide, though the vegetables used may vary. Somewhere else, for instance, they might add a parsnip."
Ingredients:
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 500 grams of split peas
- 1 celeriac
- 300 grams of potatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 leek
- 1 winter carrot
- Half a box of fresh parsley or dried parsley
- 1 whole smoked sausage
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- Pepper to taste
- 1 small teaspoon of nutmeg
the celeriac is a bit hard to cut in dices, it's best to first cut it in to slices and then remove the crust, you need a sharp knife for this hard vegetable!
developing chopping skills!
the pea's look good with the pink bowl! 😁
Preparation:
Bring 2 liters of water to a boil in a large pot with the two bouillon cubes.
Dice the celeriac, carrot, and potatoes.
Finely chop the onion, parsley, and leek.
Slice the sausage into half-rounds.
Rinse the split peas.
The cutting is most of the work... almost done now!
When the bouillon is boiling, add the potatoes, celeriac, onion, leek, carrot, and split peas to the pot. The sausage and parsley will be added later.
Bring the bouillon back to a boil and let it simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not cover the pot.
After 45 minutes, add the sausage and a teaspoon of salt, pepper to taste (I use four-season pepper), and a small teaspoon of nutmeg.
Let the soup cook for another 30 minutes until it thickens, stirring occasionally. After 30 minutes, add the parsley.
When the soup is ready, the spoon can stand upright in it!
It's delicious as it is, but's even better when it's a day old and thickens even more!
Let me know if this is similar to soups you know in other parts of the world or when you have tried it.