Pea soup recipes

The tastiest pea soup recipes from the winners of the pea soup elections

Five years ago, in 2020, we faced an unusual challenge in Woerden: the centuries-old tradition of the Koeiemart, which had always taken place since 1410, had to be cancelled for the first time due to corona. But the Woerden Koeiemart lives in the hearts of the Woerden residents. So it was precisely during that time of restrictions that a new tradition emerged, one that is now at least as dear to us: the “Snertweek”, with the pea soup election as a permanent feature.

In 2020, we kicked off with one category – the classic pea soup – a warm bowl of nostalgia for cold days. But the competition soon expanded to include a second category: the quirky pea soup. This is for pea soup with a twist. Think of surprising ingredients, a vegetarian version or an unexpected flavour combination. It is pea soup, but just a little bit different.

In this booklet you will find the best recipes of the past five years, both for traditional pea soup and for the quirky versions. It is a collection of warm flavors, fond memories and the bond. Whether you go for the classic version or dare to try something new – there is a tasty bowl of pea soup for everyone.

The most important ingredient: a lot of love and don’t forget to stir!

Carin Vianen | Pea soup queen Quirky Pea soup 2023

This pea soup may not be super quirky, but it is certainly quirky enough to be called quirky Pea. The secret? Potato out, strong pinch of chili powder in!!

Ingredients:

2 packages of split peas

6 liters of water

1 celeriac

1 large leek

2 large onions

pepper

salt

chili powder

1 pound of pork fillet

250 g bacon

Preparation:

Wash the split peas well.
Bring the peas, bacon and chicken to the boil, regularly skimming off the foam.
Chop the celeriac, carrots, leeks and onions.
Cook until the split peas are soft.
NOTE! Stir regularly.
When the peas are cooked, you can add the leeks, carrots, celeriac and onions.
And…Keep stirring! That’s important.
Season with pepper, salt and a pinch of chili powder.
Cook until everything is well mixed together.
Remove the bacon.
Chop the celery leaves.
Add finely chopped celery leaves.Cut the bacon into thin slices.
Serve the soup with sausage, the bacon slices, rye bread and mustard.

Carin’s tip: Make the soup 1 day in advance. Keep stirring well when reheating to prevent it from burning.

Carla Bril | Pea soup queen Traditional pea soup 2022 and

Dick Staal | Pea soup king Traditional pea soup 2023

This pea soup has won no less than 2 years in a row. It is a recipe for a pan of pea soup that you can feed an entire orphanage with. Which makes sense, because every Koeiemart they make a huge amount of pea soup for the Inloophuis!

‘Inloophuis’ Pea soup ingredients

2 kg smoked bacon cubes
4 kg shoulder chops
3 kg hips (thigh)
5 celery heads
14 kg split peas
12 potatoes
8 packets of beef stock cubes
1 packet of cloves
2 packets of bay leaves
6 kg of cut vegetables (leek, onions and coarse celery)
15 smoked sausages
celery leaves, parsley and pepper to taste
15 packets of rye bread and 15 packets of bacon to serve.

Preparation:

For each 15 litre pan, soak 2 kg of washed split peas with 4 litres of water.
Add the pork chops and hips to a large amount of water.
Add a few stock cubes, cloves and bay leaves.
Slowly bring to the boil and stew gently until the meat is cooked.
Allow the meat to cool and cut into small pieces.
Slowly bring the soaked split peas to the boil and stir regularly.
Add the sliced ​​celeriac, potato cubes and stock (from the meat).
Simmer gently for approx. 15 minutes until the addition is cooked.
Add the bacon cubes and vegetables and season to taste with celery, parsley, pepper and stock cubes.
Finally, add the meat, slices of sausage, celery and parsley.
If necessary, top up with water to approx. 10 litres per pan.
Stop heating, keep one pan warm before serving.
Regularly top up this pan from the other pans.

Maarten Verbrugge | Pea soup king Quirky pea soup 2022

Something different from the Dutch Snert! The soup is called Bulgarian because of the use of savory. But also the pointed pepper, garlic and the addition of dried sausage, spring onion and walnut make it Bulgarian.

Ingredients ‘Bulgarian’ Snert

200 gr Split peas – 4 Pork spare ribs – 1 Beef shank – 1 Dried salami sausage or chorizo ​​sausage (I used Bulgarian Lukanka) – 200 gr Potato – 100 gr Celeriac – 0.5 Leek – 0.5 Carrot – 1 Onion – 2 Cloves of garlic – 1 Red pointed pepper – 1 Spring onion – 1 Handful of walnuts – 1 Bay leaf – 1 Beef stock cube – 1 Teaspoon savory – A little parsley Salt and pepper

Preparation

First make the soup:

Soak the split peas overnight in plenty of water
Rinse the peas and put them in a pan with 2 liters of water, together with the beef shank, crabs and bay leaf.
Simmer gently for 45 minutes. Skim off the foam.
Add the potato in pieces.
First fry the carrot and leek in small pieces and then add to the soup, together with the bouillon cube.
When the meat comes loose, cut it into pieces and add it back.
I cut the onion, garlic, celeriac, bell pepper into small pieces and let it cook gently in a frying pan together with the savory, pepper and salt for about 20 minutes.
Add this ‘sauce’ to the soup and let it simmer gently for another 15 minutes. Add pepper and salt if necessary.

While the soup is simmering, you can make the topping:

Cut the dried sausage into half slices and fry briefly until a slightly crispy crust forms.

Finely chop the spring onion and parsley. Chop the walnuts a little.

Serving:

Pour the soup into a bowl, remove the crispy pieces of sausage from the pan and add them to the soup with the rest of the toppings.

Enjoy your meal!!

Marian Noorthoek | Pea soup queen Traditional pea soup 2021

Ingredients

· 750g pork ribs · 1 hips · 2 packages of split peas · 1 celeriac · 1 package of pea soup vegetables · pepper and salt · 4 litres of water · a (fresh) smoked sausage ·

Preparation

Put the crabs and hips on the stove with 4 litres of water. When it boils, use a fine skimmer to skim off all the foam until the stock is clear (if you want to do it right, throw away all the water with foam and put the meat on the stove with clean water). Let the stock simmer for 3 hours on low heat. In the meantime, peel the celeriac and cut it into small cubes. Remove the meat from the stock and add the split peas, which should cook for 1.5 hours. Stir the bottom regularly with a wooden spoon, so that no ‘stickiness’ forms. Remove the meat from the bones and chop finely if necessary. Remove any sinews and fat. Add the meat to the pea soup and add salt and pepper to taste. Also add the celeriac and the pea soup vegetables. Keep stirring! Soak the fresh smoked sausage in water that has just come off the boil for about 20 minutes. Slice the sausage and stir into the soup. Freezing: When the soup is nicely combined and seasoned, cool it as quickly as possible. Use flat dishes etc. for this. Transfer the soup to litre containers and freeze. You will then have a nice winter supply of about 6 litres of soup.
OR
Eat immediately: Serve the soup with a slice of rye bread with bacon and mustard. Enjoy!

Nienke Dost | Pea soup queen quirky pea soup 2021

This spread may well be the cold, spreadable, quirky stepbrother of the traditional pea soup. But, in my opinion, no less tasty, just a bit more quirky! This is how you make it.

Ingredients

Split peas (400 grams) Stock Canned chickpeas (100 grams) Garlic (2 cloves) (Cashew) nuts (100 grams) Bay leaves (2 leaves) Cloves (1 to 2) Mustard (2 teaspoons) Olive and sunflower oil Salt and pepper (to taste) Turmeric (to taste) Paprika powder (to taste) Smoked bacon bits (125 grams) Carrots (1) Rye bread (5 slices)

Preparation

The spread. Start by cooking the split peas in stock. It is best to make your own stock, but a stock cube will also work. Add bay leaves and cloves to the stock. The tastier your stock, the tastier your spread. Cook the split peas, drain the peas just before they fall apart and let the peas drain well and cool. Don’t forget to remove the bay leaves and cloves. In the meantime, drain the chickpeas well. Soak the cashews by pouring boiling water over them and letting them sit for an hour. Once all of the above ingredients have been drained and cooled, you can start making the spread. In a blender or with a hand blender, puree the split peas, chickpeas, olive oil, garlic and half of the cashews until smooth. Is your spread too thick? Add a little water. Is your spread too watery? Then add some more soaked cashews. Season the spread with salt, pepper, paprika powder and mustard. Store the spread in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Toppings You can get started with the toppings for the pea soup spread. To do this, fry some bacon until crispy and let it cool. Finely grate the carrot. We are also going to fry split peas for the toppings, for a crispy touch on the spread. To do this, the split peas must first soak in warm water for 2 hours. After soaking, drain the peas and pat them dry with a tea towel. Fry the peas in sunflower oil at about 175 degrees for +/- 4 minutes or until they are golden brown. Drain the peas and sprinkle them with salt, paprika powder and turmeric.

The above toppings: the crispy bacon, grated carrot and fried split peas, now sprinkle on top of your spread. Finally, toast slices of rye bread in the oven to make them into toasts for your spread. Do this at 170 degrees, fan oven, until they feel crispy. Let them cool down and you can enjoy your pea soup spread on a crispy piece of rye bread. You will probably have enough for the whole family, sharing is always possible!

Jolanda van der Blom | Pea soup queen Traditional pea soup 2020

Ingredients

· 6 to 7 litres of water · 1 hip · 1 kilo of pork ribs · 3 packages of split peas · 1 kilo of pea soup vegetables (without carrots) · bouillon cubes, to taste · salt and pepper · Possibly a piece of pork belly to cook separately in a pan · lots of love!

Preparation

Step 1 Put a pan of water on with a hip (lean pig’s leg) and pork ribs and bring it to the boil. Let it simmer for about three hours. Then the hips and ribs are so cooked that the rind and the bones fall out by themselves. You remove them from the broth.
Step 2 Then add three packages of split peas. They should be cooked for about 2 hours (stir regularly).
Step 3 In the meantime, fluff up the meat so that there are no bones, tendons, etc. left in between. Season the meat with salt and pepper before putting it back in the pan.
Step 4 Only add the vegetables in the last half hour. The shredded meat can now also go back in the pan. Add some stock cubes to taste and possibly some more salt and pepper (keep stirring regularly, in a large pan the thick soup can quickly stick).
Step 5 Then cool the pea soup. Place the pan in a bowl of cold water, for example the sink or in the bath if you have multiple pans and keep stirring regularly. Once the soup has cooled, store it in the refrigerator. The soup is at its best the next day (and a few days later)!
Step 6 When eating the next day, heat the soup and smoked sausage separately. If necessary, dilute the soup with a little stock or the stock from the separately cooked piece of bacon. Only add the smoked sausage to the soup when serving

Congratulations, you now have the tastiest pea soup recipes of the past five years!

We hope you will try these recipes with as much pleasure as you did when creating them. Whether you go for the traditional pea soup or dare to try a quirky variation, we wish you the best of luck in the kitchen!

Don’t forget: your pea soup could be the winner. Everyone can participate in the pea soup election, whether you are a seasoned cook or just like to experiment. Who knows, you might just win the title of best pea soup!

Have fun cooking!