Split Pea Soup with Bacon

Creamy split pea soup, fragrant with garlic and dried marjoram, is a traditional Czech dish known as "Hrachová polévka." It often graces the Christmas table in the Czech Republic as part of the festive menu.

Course Soup

Cuisine Czech

Keyword Czech Christmas, Legume Recipes

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Servings

Calories 333kcal

Author Petra Kupská

Ingredients

1 ½ cups yellow split peas
5 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup heavy cream fat content about 30%
4 ounces sliced bacon (or smoked meat/sausage)
6 handfuls bread croutons

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Pour 5 cups vegetable broth into a pot and add 1 ½ cups yellow split peas. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover the pot and let it simmer until the peas are tender. This step usually takes 30-40 minutes.
Blend the soft peas with an immersion blender, but not until completely smooth. The soup should be creamy with a slightly coarser texture.
Add the 2 cloves garlic (minced) and 1 teaspoon dried marjoram to the soup. Rub the marjoram between your fingers before adding it to release its flavor.
Add ½ cup heavy cream, then stir in 1 teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper. Put the soup back on the stove, bring it to a boil, and then immediately set it aside without cooking any further.
Cut 4 ounces sliced bacon into strips and fry them in a pan with melted lard until they are almost crispy.
Serve the soup with bread croutons and fried bacon strips placed on top.

Notes

SERVING: Serve the split pea soup warm. Add a spoonful of fried bacon to each plate and toss in a handful of bread croutons just before serving to keep them from getting soggy.
The soup is hearty and filling and can easily serve as a lighter stand-alone course. In our house, we traditionally enjoy it as a Czech Christmas soup.
Instead of bacon, you can pan-fry cubes of smoked meat or sliced sausage. Alternatively, you can omit the meat part altogether.
If you want to have the soup on the table quickly, make sure to use split peas, which do not need to be soaked beforehand.
The soup is thickened by blending the peas, contains no flour, and is naturally gluten-free.

Nutrition