Hearty Split Pea Soup With Bacon

Name: Hearty Split Pea Soup With Bacon
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Ingredients: 1 pound slab bacon in 1/4-inch-thick slices; 1 large onion, chopped; 1 carrot, chopped; 1 stalk celery, chopped; 1 head garlic, cloves peeled and sliced thin; Salt and black pepper; 1 pound dried green split peas, rinsed and picked over; 4 bay leaves; 2 to 3 quarts chicken stock; 1/2 bunch fresh thyme leaves, stripped from stems

Recipe from Freemans Restaurant

Adapted by Florence Fabricant

Hearty Split Pea Soup With Bacon — Michael Kraus for The New York Times

Total Time: 2 hours
Rating: 5(2,509)
Comments: Read comments

This is a thick, mellow split pea soup with a whisper of meaty smoke and the brambly fragrance of thyme. The recipe is easy and copious, and the soup freezes well. Look for split peas that have a use-by date on the package and are relatively fresh; they will cook faster and better. —Florence Fabricant

Featured in: Wines of The Times: Embracing the Power of Gigondas

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Ingredients

Yield:10 to 12 servings

1pound slab bacon in ¼-inch-thick slices
1large onion, chopped
1carrot, chopped
1stalk celery, chopped
1head garlic, cloves peeled and sliced thin
Salt and black pepper
1pound dried green split peas, rinsed and picked over
4bay leaves
2 to 3quarts chicken stock
½bunch fresh thyme leaves, stripped from stems

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Dice bacon into ¼-inch cubes. Place in a heavy 6-quart pot over medium-low heat. Cook until fat is rendered and translucent. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Cook until onion and garlic are soft and translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 2
Add split peas, stir to coat with fat, and add bay leaves and 2 quarts stock. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so soup simmers. Skim foam that rises to the surface for about 10 minutes, until no more appears. Add thyme leaves. Simmer uncovered about 1 hour or longer, until peas are soft and starting to fall apart. Add more stock, as needed.
Step 3
Remove soup from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Purée soup in a food processor in several batches, short of perfect smoothness; you should be able to spoon up some texture. Reheat soup, skimming off any foam. Stir from the bottom to mix well, then ladle into bowls and serve.

Ratings

5 out of 5

2,509 user ratings

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Comments

Allison Stern7 years ago

This is a lovely recipe except for one bit of the instructions: use a blender or food processor... Using an immersion blender is the way to purée right in the pot with no mess or fuss, no transferring of hot soup, and no clean up of other containers (or hot soup exploding all over the kitchen, which happened to me once). Immersion blenders are not expensive, and I've had mine for years & years. Anyone who cooks very much will use it often. They work great for smoothies too!

Greg T7 years ago

I really wish NYTimes recipes could quit listing indeterminate amounts like "1/2 bunch fresh thyme leaves." Or, at least follow it up with something measurable like "approx 1 1/2 tablespoons." What, after all, is a bunch? I buy my herbs loose so that I can get the amount I need, not some arbitrary bunch or whatever the grocer puts together.

Steven ball7 years ago

Stripping leaves of thyme can be a pain , I place the amount needed in a plastic bag then freeze Then when needed rub the still frozen stems (while still in the bag) leaves fall off easily..

Dana2 months ago

This was delicious! Changes I made - per the recommendation of one of the other reviews, I removed the bacon and then added it back in at the end after I pureed the soup. After removing the bacon, I let it drain on paper towels, and I poured off a good deal of the bacon grease into bowl, which I kept on hand, so only a thin coating remained to saute the veggies. Had I left all the grease, I think the soup would have been too heavy. I plan to try this with vegan bacon in the future.

Sarah MoJo3 months ago

This was a flavorful split pea soup, but I spent the entire 60-minute simmer time skimming fat. I would modify by cooking bacon first, until crispy, then pouring off all but 1 to 2 T of fat. I would reserve half the bacon for topping the soup, and add the rest back to the pot at the same time as the thyme.

Carolyn3 months ago

I made this soup today and, like others, deviated from the recipe a little: used "bacon ends" from my local butcher, 2.5 quarts of chicken broth, two bay leaves, and about 4 cloves of garlic. I trimmed a lot of the fat from the bacon ends, so there was just enough fat to soften the veggies, and I reserved about half of the cooked meat to add after blending with my immersion blender. (It seems like a whole head of garlic and 4 bay leaves are a LOT.) I'm very happy with the result.

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