French Canadian Yellow Split Pea Soup

French Canadian Slow Cooker Yellow Split Pea Soup

Servings:  10 to 12

We just returned from a cruise to New England and Canada.  One of the highlights was our evening at an authentic sugar shack near Quebec City.  What an interesting and fun experience this turned out to be!  Sugar shacks are where the sap from the maple trees is boiled and made into maple syrup.  The cabane à sucre is a local tradition, not just for tourists. Entire families descend, especially during the maple syrup season to gather together and enjoy a traditional meal with live music, singing, dancing, and playing the spoons.

As I was the designated "soup lady" at our table, I had the privilege of serving the Quebecois yellow pea soup... and I became an instant fan of the soup!  I couldn't find split yellow peas in any of our local grocery stores, so Amazon.com came to the rescue.  A box of 4 one-pound packages arrived in just a couple of days! It arrived just in time for my one-pot dinner club soup party!  So here's the recipe that I concocted from dozens of online recipes that I perused.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS: 

1 package (1 pound) dried yellow split peas, rinsed

8 to 10 cups water (start with 8 & add more if needed)

2 cans chicken broth

 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

3 to 4 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)

3 to 4 carrots, diced (about 1 ½ cups)

¾ cups bacon bits

1 cup chopped ham

1 Tablespoon Herbes de Provence

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1 chicken boullion cube

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

DIRECTIONS:

·        Mix together all ingredients in a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker.

·        Cover and cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours until peas are tender.

·        For a chunky version, leave the soup as is.  If you want a smooth soup, use one of these two options to blend the soup:

·        Use an immersion blender and blend until smooth.

·        OR place 2 cups at a time of the soup in blender or food processor and blend until desired consistency.

·        Pour into bowls and top with a drizzle of maple syrup!

Notes:  I started off with 8 cups of water and needed to add two more cups as the peas soaked up the liquid.  I pureed my soup until almost smooth, leaving a few chunks of veggies.  Most recipes call for a ham hock instead of the bacon & ham, but I couldn’t find one; thus I used a combination of bacon and ham (I used pieces of a spiral sliced ham).  I loved it with the bacon and ham so will probably stick to this version in the future.