Hearty, Herby Split Pea Soup

My favorite split pea soup recipe started out as the one in Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells. She takes a simple pea soup with ham recipe and adds lots of garlic herbs and spices– thyme, marjoram, parsley, and cloves. I took her recipe and added big pieces of carrot and a dose of cumin seed toasted and then ground. 

I love Patrica Wells' cookbooks because the recipes always seem to work, and she has a very relaxed style that invites you, as a cook, to make changes and finish the dish in differnet ways. With this I took her up on not puréeing the soup but serving it in a rustic, chunky style.

If you would like to learn from a real pro and love little tips tucked into the pages of a cookbook, I highly recommend this one, Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells. I've learned a lot from this outstanding food writer.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

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