Pea soup

Erwtensoep

500 grams split peas
500 grams smoked pork (hocks or bacon)
4 medium potatoes
2 leeks
1 onion
1 celeriac (celery root)
chopped parsley
chopped celery leaves
4 cloves
bay leaf
thyme
salt &pepper
1 ‘rookworst,’ Farmer’s, ring or coil sausage

This is just one of many, many basic recipes for the famed Dutch peasoup ‘erwtensoep.’ Most housewives will have their own recipe, adding this, leaving out that, using a different kind of meat, or adjusting the cooking time to suit their experience.

Boil 1¼ liter water and put in the pork. Stick the cloves into the peeled onion and add with the bay leaf to the soup. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Add 1¼ liter water and the peas, sprinkle in some thyme and salt and pepper. Simmer for an hour.

Peel and cube the potatoes, clean and thinly slice the leeks. Peel the celeriac and cut into cubes. Add to the soup.

When the peas are tender, take out the onion, bay leaf and cloves. Take out the meat and remove any bones or skin. Drain but keep the stock. Put the peas and vegetables through a sieve or mash them in a mixer. Slowly add the stock while stirring and simmer for 20 minutes, add the meat and the sausage and simmer for another 20 minutes until the sausage is done. Add some finely chopped parsley and celery leaves to the soup 5 minutes before it is done.