Dried peas were available through the points system during the rationing years… you could get quite a lot of split peas for your points every month (8 lbs) if you didn’t use your 16 points up for 2 lbs of dry fruit or just one can of meat/fish. Split peas have lots of fibre, protein and iron so were a very healthy and frugal food to have as part of your ration..

I had split pea soup as my main meal of the day and had two servings. I currently buy a whole bag of organic split peas for $2.49 and that is enough to feed 8 people with a large bowl each! The recipe below uses just half a bag.

I prefer my soups to be thick with texture but if you prefer to have yours thinner and smooth then just add a little extra water and when cooked, liquidize it.

Split pea soup

• 8 oz (225g) of split green peas
• 2 onions
• 2 carrots
• 1 parsnip or british turnip
• 1 medium white potato
• 1 pint (600 ml) of water
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• salt and pepper to taste (I used 1 teaspoon sea salt)
• sprig of mint or a little dried mint

Method

1. Wash the split peas in cold water
2. Cover with cold water and soak overnight or you can use straight away (they’ll just take longer to cook)
3. Chop up the onions, parsnip, carrots finely and potato into 1/2 inch chunks and add to a pint of boiling water in a saucepan with the drained split peas
4. Cook until the split peas are cooked (about 40 minutes over medium) in a covered saucepan, stirring now and again
5. Serve as is with a sprig of mint or liquidize for a smooth soup

Serves 4