Oh my gosh, this is my new favourite soup. It is so fragrant from all the spices and the colour is out of this world. A chunky soup filled with gorgeous yellow split peas, tomatoes, fresh spinach and spiced with cumin, paprika, turmeric and chillies. I made this on a wet and cold Saturday afternoon, but it is equally good for nice warm sunny days. It is so vibrant and tastes so good, it makes for the perfect meal prep dish as the split peas hold up really well and retain their bite. What I love the most is the colour, turmeric makes anything look like a bowl of sunshine!
Admittedly, the first time I ever made this, I used what I had in my spice cupboard. Even though I had packed it full of spices, it wasn’t as colourful and fragrant as I thought it would be. Then I realised the contents of my spice cupboard were mostly out of date. I am so shocked at myself and embarrassed. I can’t believe my ground coriander was best before 2015, that’s a whopping six years out of date. As soon as I realised, I took everything out of the cupboard and went through their dates, the items I use the most were just about in date. Clearly we think we need more than we do. I have whittled the jars down to what I actually need and use and have done a complete refresh and stocked up with loads of new spices and herbs. Now I only have what I actually use in the cupboard. This was such a lesson to me, only buy what you need, not what you think you will use one day.
With my cupboard full of new spices, I have made this soup so many times since. And it is totally divine!
FRAGRANT YELLOW SPLIT PEA AND SPINACH SOUP
Using a mix of dried spices and split peas paired with some lovely fresh spinach and tomatoes, this soup is a great bowl of smell and flavour and so nutritious and wholesome.
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, finely diced
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1/2 tbsp ground cumin,
- 1/2 tbsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tbsp sweet paprika
- pinch of crushed chillies
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 250 g dried yellow split peas
- 2 pints of hot stock
- 150 g fresh tomatoes chopped. I like using rainbow cherry tomatoes cut in half.
- 50 g fresh baby spinach leaves
To garnish:
- Toasted pumpkin (or sunflower) seeds
- Greek yogurt (thinned with a little milk if you want to drizzle it)
- lemon wedges
THE HOW
Heat a large saucepan over a low/medium heat and add half the sunflower oil (1 tbsp).
To the pan, add the onion and carrot and allow to soften for about 5 minutes. Add the crushed garlic and cook for about a minute.
Add the remaining oil (1 tbsp) and add in the cumin, turmeric, paprika, chillies, salt, tomato paste and split peas and stir to warm and release their flavours.
Pour in the hot stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 40 minutes or until the split peas are not crunchy but still have a tiny bite to them. Add more hot water if you need to, or require a more liquid soup.
Add in the chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. When the soup is cooked, take off the heat and add in your spinach. I don’t chop my spinach but feel free to. The spinach will wilt in the heat of the soup.
Ladle into bowls, drizzle with Greek yogurt, top with toasted pumpkin seeds and a squeeze of lemon.
Kitchen Feasts 