London particular soup
Makes: 2 litres
Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Maja Smend
London particular soup
Named after the London ‘pea souper’ fogs that were so thick you could hardly see your hand in front of your face
Makes: 2 litres
Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
354Kcal
Fat
15gr
Saturates
7gr
Carbs
31gr
Sugars
5gr
Fibre
8gr
Protein
19gr
Salt
1.6gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Ingredients
- 50g butter
- 10 rashers streaky bacon, shredded
- 1.5ltr chicken stock (made using 1 stock pot or cube), or stock from cooking a ham - use gluten free if required
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 2 leeks, sliced
- 3 celery stalks, chopped, plus a few leaves to garnish
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 250g dried split green peas, rinsed
- 250g frozen peas
Step by step
- Melt a knob of the butter in a large saucepan or flameproof casserole, add the bacon and fry until crispy. Lift out to a plate and set aside. Add a little stock to the pan; stir to release the caramelised bits then pour this back into the jug of stock.
- Add the rest of the butter to the pan; when melted, add the onion, leeks, celery, thyme and bay leaves. Cover and cook gently for 10 minutes until softened but not coloured. Return half the bacon to the pan and tip in the rinsed split peas. Add the hot stock, re-cover and bring the soup to the boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 1-1¼ hours, until the split peas are tender. Remove the bay, add 175g frozen peas to the soup and cook for 2-3 minutes. Put the rest of the peas in a small heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water to defrost.
- Blend the soup until smooth (in batches if using a liquidiser). Return to the pan if necessary and heat through gently. Add extra water if needed, and season with freshly ground black pepper.
-
Ladle into bowls and top with the drained peas, reserved crispy bacon and a few celery leaves.Use your slow cookerOmit the butter, add half the chopped bacon and all the ingredients apart from the frozen peas to a slow cooker. Cover, cook on Low for 7-8 hours. Add 175g frozen peas for the last 30 minutes. Fry the rest of the bacon in a little oil until crispy, and defrost the peas as above for the garnish.
