Pea soup with salted meat, mother's style

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 350 g green peas
• 2,500 ml water
• 380 g salted pork (knuckle, tail or neck)
• 500 g potatoes
• 1 bunch of soup vegetables
• Salt
• pepper
• marjoram
• 2 sausages (Mettwurst), smoked if you like
• n. B. Vegetable stock cubes

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Total time approx. 12 hours 30 minutes

Wash the peas and soak them in 2.5 liters of water for 12-24 hours. Place the peas and salted meat in cold water and simmer until almost tender (do not add salt beforehand – otherwise the peas will not become tender). Meanwhile, peel and dice the potatoes, trim and finely chop the soup vegetables. When the meat is tender after about 2 hours, add salt, pepper, marjoram, and the diced soup vegetables along with the potato cubes. Slice the Mettwurst and add them as well. Let everything simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove the meat, remove any bones, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Either add it back to the soup or serve it separately. Season the soup again with salt, pepper, and marjoram (and perhaps add one or two stock cubes). Tip: Using 500 g of peas makes the soup thicker. You can also use wild peas; these do not need to be soaked. If you don’t like salted meat, you can use streaky bacon instead.