Vegan pea soup

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 3 shallots or 1 onion
• 1 stalk(s) leek
• ¼ celeriac
• 300 g split peas
• 200 g carrot(s)
• 600 g potatoes, mostly waxy
• 100 g peas, frozen
• 1 ½ liters of water, hot
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp parsley, dried
• 2 bay leaves

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

Clean and roughly chop the shallots and leeks. Peel and roughly dice the celeriac, carrots, and potatoes (vegetables that are chopped too finely will burn in the pot, and everything will end up pureed anyway). Sauté the celery and carrots in hot oil until lightly browned. Then add the shallots and fry until the shallots become translucent and the carrots and celery are nicely browned. Meanwhile, grind the caraway seeds with the salt (this counteracts the flavor of the nuts and onions, and I make the “spice and herb mix” completely, as frying usually takes a few minutes). Once the carrots and celery are nicely browned (not black!) and the onion is translucent, add the potatoes, split peas, and leeks to the pot and pour in the water. Add the spices and herbs to the pot, stir gently, and simmer for a total of one hour over low to medium heat. After 45 minutes, everything should be almost or completely tender. Now add the frozen peas to the pot and cook for about 15 minutes. After the total cooking time of 1 hour (45 minutes and 15 minutes), remove the bay leaves from the soup and finely chop everything with a hand blender. The frozen peas add a beautiful green color, but you can also omit them. If you don’t add them to the pot, use less water (about 250 ml).