Polish Pea Soup

Grochówka – Pea Soup – just reminds me of when I was young – the smell and taste just bring back so many memories.

The yellow split pea type are the ones used in all the traditional recipes and the soup should not be very thick.

 

 

You can make this soup in a stockpot on the stove top or put it in the oven and leave it to simmer gently for many hours. I have found that making this in my slow cooker is much easier; you can leave it without worrying about it sticking or burning.

Any type of Polish smoked sausage can be used – here I used  Toruńska.

I have given recipes for two slightly different versions

Version 1

Ingredients

• 350 – 400g yellow split peas
• 2 large carrots
• 2 onions
• 2 litres of vegetable stock – can be from a cube or powder
• 300g of Kielbasa Polish smoked sausage.
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 peppercorns
• 2-3 grains of allspice
• Chopped flat-leaf parsley or chives to garnish when serving.

Method – version 1

• Peel the carrots and cut them into rounds – cut the larger ones into halves.
• Dice the onions.
• Chop the sausage into rounds and then cut these into halves or quarters – depending on the size of the sausage.
• Place everything except the garnish into the slow cooker and switch it on to high.
• Leave the soup mixture to cook for around 4 hours, giving it an occasional stir.
• Cook until the peas “fall apart”.
• This soup should not be a “thick mush!”  – add some boiling water to thin it down if necessary.
• Sprinkle the chopped parsley or chives on the top of each serving.

 

 

 

 

Served in Royal  Doulton – Carnation – 1982 – 1998

Version 2

Ingredients

• 300g yellow split peas
• 2 large carrots
• 2 onions
• 2 litres of vegetable stock – can be from a cube or powder
• 200g of Kielbasa – Polish smoked sausage.
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 peppercorns
• 2-3 grains of allspice
• *
• Garnish
• 4 slices of smoked bacon
• 1 onion

Method – version 2

• Peel the carrots and cut them into rounds – cut the larger ones into halves.
• Dice the onions.
• Chop the sausage into rounds and then cut these into halves or quarters – depending on the size of the sausage.
• Place everything except the garnish into the slow cooker and switch it on to high.
• Leave the soup mixture to cook for around 4 hours, giving it an occasional stir.
• Cook until the peas “fall apart”.
• This soup should not be a “thick mush!”  – add some boiling water to thin it down if necessary.

Garnish

• Chop the bacon into small squares and fry gently till very crispy – these are called skwarki in Polish.
• Dice the onion and fry in a little oil until the pieces are lightly charred.
• Mix the bacon and onions together.
• You either use these straight away or you make them in advance and leave them to go cold.
• Use some kitchen roll to mop up any excess fat.

 

 

When you serve the soup, place a largish tablespoon of the garnish on top of each portion.

 

Served in Royal  Doulton – Carnation – 1982 – 1998