A warming soup from people who understand the cold: French Canadian Pea Soup

This traditional Quebecois soup turns dried yellow peas, smoked ham hock, aromatics and broth into a simple, comforting meal. Recipe below.

WHEN I WAS A KID IN DETROIT, our family was all about practical home cooking from fresh ingredients. One of the few prepared foods that was a regular part of the rotation came in a can: Habitant French-Canadian Pea Soup. And, you know, all these years later, I still love this soup—and, wonderfully, it still tastes the same: hearty, soothing, and delicious. It’s still a part of our lives, even though now, to buy it, we have to drive to Canada.

Since we live in Chicago, this is not a practical approach. But of course you know what is: making it ourselves.

This soup—sometimes called Quebecois penicillin—has been a staple of Canadian cooking for centuries. It’s simple to make, economical, healthy and very tasty. Aube Giroux, on her wonderful blog Kitchen Vignettes, writes about her mother preparing this soup. Her mother actually grew an array of heritage peas over many years, trying to find the ideal soup pea that captured the flavor she remembered from her own childhood. She eventually did find it: Darlaine peas, a variety that is still available from some specialist growers.

This recipe, which is a riff on Aube’s, can be prepared in two or three simple, meditative hours. It’s made with yellow split peas, which are actually mature whole peas. Their skins are removed, then the peas are split in half; this eliminates the need for soaking and shortens their cooking time. This recipe makes enough soup to serve four as a hearty meal. It can be doubled or tripled, and honestly, you might as well do that to have plenty of leftovers for later in the week. Try it. You too will want to make it a regular part of your life.

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French-Canadian Pea Soup

This traditional Quebecois soup turns dried yellow peas, smoked ham hock, aromatics and broth into a simple, comforting meal.

Course Soup

Cuisine French-Canadian

Servings 4 as a meal

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3-4 carrots, chopped (1-1/2 cups)
• 2-1/2 cups chopped white onion
• 2 cups dried yellow split peas (see Kitchen Notes)
• 2 to 2-1/2 quarts chicken stock, or a mix of stock and water
• a meaty smoked ham hock, or 3/4 cup ham chopped into cubes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon dried savory
• salt, if needed

Instructions

• First, in a large heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter and mix in the oil. Add the carrots and sauté for a minute or two. Then add the onions, stir, and sauté everything for 3 or 4 minutes, until the onions are translucent and limp.
• Pour in the peas, stir, then add the broth and water, the hock (or the chopped ham), bay and savory. Give it all another stir, bring to the boiling point, then simmer gently. Stir every now and then to avoid sticking. This will take two or three hours. You may need to add more liquid if the soup gets too thick before it’s done.
• Once the peas are cooked, remove the ham hock, strip off the meat, chop it and return it to the pot. Taste and season with salt, if needed. You likely won't need it—the ham hock will add plenty of its own.

Kitchen Notes

Peas, split or otherwise. This is ideal with dried whole yellow peas, but if you cannot find those, then use yellow split peas. A side benefit is that you won't need to pre-soak them and the cooking time is shorter.

Upping your soup-for-dinner game. As we said, the soup alone is a hearty meal. But a sandwich alongside takes it to a whole new level. My sister loves this soup with a salami sandwich, but I say: grilled cheese.

Grow your own. Darlaine pea seed is a bush variety that is available from Salt Spring Seeds, in British Columbia, and Resilient Seeds, in Washington state.