I love not only how flavorful this soup is, but how very beautiful it is. With the color contrasts between the yellow split peas, the dark green kale, and the bright red tomatoes, it is a very striking soup. The basil, cumin and sausage make it very flavorful. Altogether a lovely soup for a chilly night. We slurped it up with delight.
This soup will be part of the Nourishing Soups and Stews Carnival that I will post later Tuesday night. Please come back later to join that!
A few notes on the ingredients. I used fresh tomatoes, as I love how they look in a soup and I like to avoid the chemicals in canned food. However I am sure that you could substitute a 14 ounce can of chopped tomatoes. I used mild Italian sausage (a very nice, custom made one that I can buy locally). You can use whatever type you like best, hot would be good as well. Chicken or turkey sausage would work beautifully and I am sure that this soup would still be good even without the sausage for a vegetarian/vegan soup, as well.
I used lacinato kale once again, which is so easy to cook with. But if you use regular kale, you will want to strip the leaves off of the stems. You could also experiment with using different legumes, such as lentils.
All to say, you have options!
Yellow Split Pea, Kale and Italian Sausage Soup
2 cups of yellow split peas, soaked overnight and rinsed
1 onion, peeled and chopped into about 1/4 inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons dried basil
I bunch of lacinato kale, washed, tough stems cut off and coarsely chopped
2 large tomatoes, washed and chopped into large chunks
3/4 pound of mild Italian sausage, in ground form, or casings removed from link form.
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons sea salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar1-Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat, When hot (though not smoking) add onion and cook until just starting to soften (make sure you stir during this process).
2-Add garlic and cook one minute. Then add the yellow split peas, 8 cups of water, and the dried basil and cumin. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for about 30-40 minutes, until the yellow split peas are soft (but not mushy).
3-Add the kale and tomatoes and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the kale is soft. Meanwhile, fry up your sausage in a saucepan over med-high heat, stirring the meat and breaking up clumps, until cooked all the way through. If there is any fat, drain away.
4-Add the sausage and vinegar and add about 2 teaspoons of sea salt and one teaspoon of pepper and adjust to taste. Enjoy!
{ 1 trackback }
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks delicious. I’ve made something similar with lentils and turnip greens. I bet it would be fantastic with yellow split peas!
Hi there! I’m a new reader and totally loving your blog. I was wondering if this recipe could be made in a crock pot and if so, if you had any tips for just how to do that! Would the amount of liquid need to be reduced maybe?
Hi Regina,
I am sure that it could be. Just don’t add the acidic ingredients (like the tomatoes and vinegar) until near the end of the cooking time. You may also want to do step 1, and then dump everything into the crockpot. Hope that helps! I think the liquid amount should work okay.
Mmmm! I made this tonight for our family. What a treat after a long day of playing in the snow. Everyone gobbled it up! Even my 4 year old liked it and she can be tough to please. Thanks!
Hi, this sounds to good! Can you use home made chicken stock instead of water for this recipe? Thanks
I made this soup and although I’ve commented to you personally Kimi, I wanted to be sure to let others know that they MUST make this soup!
I split the recipe in half since I’m single but plan to make the full recipe and freeze more portions this time. I must admit to being skeptical about how it would taste but this is hands down my most favorite soup now. Once it was finished cooking, I portioned it into single servings, placed a layer of wax paper on top of each, then sealed each plastic container. I kept one serving for me to eat – now that I’ve reminded myself of how good it was, I think that I shall thaw more sausage and make it again today!
Brava!
I just wanted to quickly thank you for this recipe….and many others that you provide. I often stop by here to check out what you’re cooking up next! This soup has become one of my favorites! And, even my 9 mo. old daughter, who still shows little to no interest in solids, loved the broth and little bits of yellow split pea! yay!!
Blessings.
Hi Kim,
I’ve been a regular reader for several weeks now and I really must thank you for all your hard work and posting these wonderful recipes! I’m a newbie to NT. We are making a lot of big changes, so your site has been a great help to me. I’m putting this soup into next week’s meal plan, looks delish! My husband loves sausage so it is sure to please. He even loved your turkey apple sausage, it’s our new saturday morning staple with eggs or your whole wheat soaked pancakes. We’ll be trying the sourdough ones soon enough now that my starter is ready! Thanks and God bless!
Thanks Sheri for the sweet comment! I am so glad this site has been helpful to you!
Oh my goodness this soup is divine!
This is one of the best soup’s I’ve ever eaten. So healthy and tasty, I will make this over and over again. If I take out the meat, what can I add to complement the lentils to make a perfect protein?
Thanks,
JM
Serve with whole wheat bread or serve other rice.
Great site! Great inspiration! Thank-you Kimi!
So, red lentils were subbed out and it was a huge hit (less cooking time) … never have made it with the peas after that, it a favorite staple … with love, Taffy
I was all set to make this a few months ago … and, no peas