Yellow Split Pea Soup with Roasted Tomatoes, Red Peppers and Garlic
The yellow split-peas and extra virgin olive oil in this vegan soup add a creaminess to the sweet tanginess of the roasted tomatoes, red peppers and garlic that I absolutely love. I added a basil oil garnish to the soup for the photos. It’s a simple tasty blend of extra virgin olive oil, lemon, fresh basil leaves and salt, which can add a lot of flavour. But honestly it’s not needed here. The roasted vegetables add all the flavour needed.
What’s so good about yellow split peas? They’re a nutrition dense legume; a good source of protein, some B vitamins and folate, and soluble fibre. And they have a very long shelf life. So you can buy a few packets to use whenever suits.
Another thing I like about this recipe is that it takes roughly the same time to cook the yellow split peas as it does to roast the tomatoes, pepper and garlic. So it all comes together pretty nicely.
Ingredients
- 2 onions, chopped small
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 2 celery sticks, sliced
- sunflower oil
- sprigs of rosemary
- sprigs of thyme
- 1 cup of yellow split peas, rinsed
- 1500 ml water
- extra virgin olive oil
- 600g cherry vine tomatoes, vine removed
- 3 red bell peppers, stalks, core & seeds removed
- 1 whole garlic bulb
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat a little sunflower in a deep saucepan and add in the onions, carrot and celery. Stir around well. Add in a sprig of rosemary and thyme. Reduce the heat to gentle-moderate and cover the saucepan. Leave the vegetables to sweat for 5 minutes.
- Prepare and roast the cherry tomatoes, peppers and garlic Turn the oven on to 200° C. Line a baking tin with baking paper. Chop the top off the garlic bulb so that the tips of most of the cloves are chopped off. Place in the baking tin and spoon a tablespoon of the olive oil over it. Add a couple of sprigs of rosemary and thyme to the tray. Arrange the peppers and cherry tomatoes in the tin. Score the top of the tomatoes, cut a little cross in their tops, and spoon 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over the tomatoes. Place the tin in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
- Now that the onion, celery and carrot have softened, sprinkle over a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, and pour in the water. Turn the heat up high and stir in the yellow split peas. Bring to the boil. Stir around well. Reduce the heat to moderate. Fish out the sprigs of thyme and rosemary. Leave to simmer for 45 minutes.
- Once the tomatoes, peppers and garlic are done roasting. Take out of the oven and leave to cool for a good 5 minutes before peeling the skin off the peppers and pushing the garlic flesh from the roasted cloves. While the roasted vegetables are cooling, check that the yellow split peas have softened. Mash them with a potato masher. Turn off the heat.
- When you have the garlic and peppers peeled, add them to the saucepan. Pick the leaves off the sprigs of rosemary and thyme and add them to the pot. Discard the stems. There is no need to peel to the roasted cherry tomatoes. The will be a lot of roasting juices and oil still in the baking tin, pour this into the pot along with the tomatoes.
- Use a stick blender to blend the soup to a smooth consistency. Let cool for 10 minute. Add a pinch of salt and freshly milled black pepper. Taste and add more if needed.
