ZUPPA DI BROCCOLI E PISELLI SECCHI or BROCCOLI AND GREEN SPLIT PEA SOUP

Soup is a great comfort. Come rain come shine, a soup is always easy to eat. Today it is so grey, humid and foggy out there that there was really nothing else for me to do than make a hot bowl of soup for lunch! It would have been right yesterday too, sunny but icy cold but today it’s ever “righter”! The most famous Italian soup is obviously the good old minestrone but I have to confess that I don’t like it that much. I prefer Pappa al Pomodoro or Gazpacho (yes I know, it’s Spanish but who cares about silly geographical frontiers or borders?) anytime, they taste more, or those soups that just happens to come into existence just because you feel like eating a soup. This soup is an example of this; this is what happens when you look around at the provisions you have and imagine what the different tastes will be like when you put them together. I have been thinking about making a broccoli soup for quite a while now but although I have another combination in mind (I will have to try that out in the near future), it was the combination between broccoli and dried split peas that tickled my fancy today. And I’m happy it did because this is a soup I’ll make again. Maybe with the addition of a peperoncino…



ZUPPA DI BROCCOLI E PISELLI SECCHI or BROCCOLI AND GREEN SPLIT PEA SOUP
2 servings

150 ml/o,63 cup green split peas
300 gr broccoli
10 cm/ about 4 in leek
750 ml/3,2 cups stock
a pinch of oregano
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Let the split peas simmer for about 30 minutes in the stock.
- Meanwhile you gently fry the slices of leek and the florets of broccoli in some olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Don’t forget to salt them a bit.
- Add them to the soup and continue to simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Run the soup in a blender, serve and eat. Don’t blend it too much, it’s nice to have some texture!