My family loves all kinds of soup. They’ll eat cold soups, hot soups, hearty soups. They love split pea soup, but the canned varieties often contain ham and too much sodium. Since I won’t cook with pork, I needed to find an alternate meat source to give this split pea soup a smoky flavor. I found my solution in some chicken andouille sausage I keep in the freezer. I regularly substitute this andouille for ham in recipes like arroz con pollo. Start this soup early on a chilly morning, cook it low and slow in the crockpot, and you’ll have a warm and hearty dinner without fuss.
1 16-oz package yellow split peas, sorted and rinsed
2 cups diced, cooked chicken andouille sausage (each link yields approx. 1/2 cup)
3 carrots, cleaned and sliced diagonally
1/2 cup diced onions
2 ribs celery, cleaned and diced (may include leaves)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (12-15 sprigs)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
pinch of each: thyme, marjoram, tarragon
3 cups chicken stock
3 cups water
croutons (optional)
Special equipment: minimum 4-quart slow cooker
- Sort and rinse the green split peas. Place them into the slow cooker first.
- Place the chicken andouille sausage in an even layer over the split peas. Then layer the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, and fresh parsley in the slow cooker in that order. Do not stir or mix!
- Add the bay leaf, kosher salt, ground pepper, and the pinches of the dried herbs (thyme, marjoram, tarragon). Do not stir or mix!
- Pour chicken stock and water gently over the layers.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours (or HIGH 4-5 hours) until peas are soft. Remove the bay leaf.
- Either mash the peas to thicken the soup or roughly blend with an immersion blender. Stir and serve with croutons or a hearty loaf of bread.
Yield: 10 cups, approx. 8 servings
