Soup Nazi

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I’m on a bit of a soup roll at the moment, I love them this time of year especially so I wanted to share this ripper with you.  I love the Soup Nazi off Seinfeld,   it puts a smile on my face whenever I think about these episodes. “No soup for you….2 weeks!” Oh to have that power.  So any way, this recipe is one of my all-time favourite soups.   I first had it made for me by some dear friends nearly 20 years ago. The real reason I bring up Seinfeld is they both love the show too, but it was this recipe that I wish to thank them for, it changed the way I thought of soups forever.  I’m happiest when my freezer is brimming with soup all in nice portions for my lunches in the winter time. At the moment I have pumpkin soup, pearl barley and veg, Puy lentil and spinach, jerusalem artichoke and this cockle warming Pea and Ham.

Pea and Ham Soup

1 ham hock

2 -3 stalks of celery, finely diced

2-3 carrots, finely diced

1 zucchini finely diced

1 onion finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely diced

1 pkt of split peas, green or yellow

Water  and /or some chicken stock to cover 

Saute onion and garlic until soft, add all ingredients and simmer for hours!! I do mine in the slow cooker these days and let it go all day. 

You can use your little barmix whizzer to blitz up the vegies before you cook them so they disintegrate into the soup, more for my childs sake and they break down into the soup giving it more body and saves that step at the end, I did it with just chopped vegies. Once it is ready just remove the hock and discard the skin, any fat and chop the meat up into nice bite sized pieces. 

This delicious hearty soup is great the next day, with a poached egg on top or with crusty bread or with the cheesy verstion of the no knead bread.  I added grated vintage cheddar to the final gentle knead and then sprinkled some on top. It really is easier than making toast this bread. I started it in the morning and let it prove near the heater as its so cold here at the moment, 6 hours later I baked it, I was so impressed with the 'holyness' of the bread!
Unfortunately my 'normal' companion, my laptop, has died a quiet death and I can't access my photos, luckily I drafted this post days ago.  I'm hoping it will be fixed and back to me in no time as it really is my lifeline!!