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
- Wash the split peas in cold water
- Cover with cold water and soak overnight or you can use straight away (they’ll just take longer to cook)
- 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
- Cook until the split peas are cooked (about 40 minutes over medium) in a covered saucepan, stirring now and again
- Serve as is with a sprig of mint or liquidize for a smooth soup
Serves 4