Ärtsoppa (Swedish pea soup)

Ärtsoppa, the classic yellow pea soup. Traditionally served on a Thursday and made with whole dried yellow or green peas. Use the large yellow spit-peas if you can't find the whole ones.

Swedish pancakes should follow!

Ingredients

Create a printable shopping list for this recipe's recipeIngredient

• 450 g ( 1 lb) dried yellow peas or split-peas
• 2 medium onions peeled and finely chopped
• 225 g (8 oz) lean bacon
• ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (you probably won't need any salt if you are using salty bacon)
• 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard to serve

Method

1. Soak the dried peas for 12 hours (overnight) in plenty lots of cold water. I like to change the water and rinse a few times if I remember.
2. In the morning, drain and rinse a few times in cold running water.
3. To a large pan, add the chopped onions, drained peas, 1.5 litres of cold water (2 litres if you like a thinner soup), the bay leaf, the bacon or ham-hocks and bring to the boil.
4. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes, skim any scum from the surface, add the herbs and simmer for a further 30 minutes.
6. It won't hurt to cook for longer.
7. When ready to serve, discard the bay leaf, cut the meat into bite sized pieces and add back to the soup, discard any bones.
8. Pour into individual serving bowls, swirl in a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and serve.

Det är jättegott!

Variations

Instead of bacon use a few ham-hocks or a meaty ham bone.

If using fresh herbs you can probably use a little more than if using dried herbs.

Graph your Body Mass Index

See your personal Body Mass Index (BMI) plotted on a graph against national averages.