Split Pea Soup with Seitan
Serves 4- 6
This is a thick hearty, meal in a bowl kind of soup!
The Seitan (wheat meat) adds meatiness that goes so nicely with the split peas and chunky vegetables.
Protein rich, warming and satisfying.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup split peas - washed and soaked overnight with 3 cups of water
- 2 cm piece kombu
- 2 onions - diced small
- 2 cups pumpkin - medium dice
- 1/4 cup burdock finely diced
- 1 cup celery root or parsnip - medium dice
- 1 stalk celery in small dice
- 1 1/2 cups seitan in 2 cm or 3/4 inch cubes (If you can find fresh seitan in the refrigerator section that is nicest otherwise the jar variety is fine)
- 1/4 cup corn starch or arrowroot powder
- 1/4 cup 85% spelt or wheat flour
- Deoderized sunflower oil -for deep frying
- 1 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt
- Shoyu
Garnishes:
- 1 to 2 spring onions finely sliced
Instructions:
- Boil Split peas with Kombu for 10 minutes with lid off taking foam off with skimmer.
- Pressure cook for 20 minutes or simmer in heavy bottomed soup pan for about 45mins to 1 hour - till tender.
- If the split peas go creamy thats great - if not give them a little help with a hand blender!
To prepare the seitan:
- Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy cast iron pot or Le Crueset pot with 2 inches or 5 cm of oil on medium high flame.
- mix the corn starch with the flour and a pinch of sea salt.
- Toss the seitan together with the flour mixture and then seperate from excess flour.
- When the oil sizzles when you drop in a piece of seitan then you can fry the seitan in two batches for 2-3 minutes then remove to paper towels to drain.
- Next, heat a soup pan on medium flame add olive oil and saute first burdock for 1-2 minutes then add the onions and a pinch of sea salt.
- Add and saute celery root or parsnip for 2 more minutes.
- Add pumpkin, cooked split peas and 1/2 tsp of sea salt plus as much water as necessary to achieve desired consistency - about 1-2 more cups.
- Simmer for 10 minutes then add celery, seitan cubes, a little shoyu to taste and continue simmering for another 5 minutes.
- Serve hot with garnish.

