Recipes
(Recipe) Koek & Zopie
Introduction
‘Koek & Zopie’
Whenever there is a potential freeze in the Netherlands, everyone thinks of pea soup. Ice skating and pea soup go hand in hand. A good skating tour should be accompanied by a good “koek en zopie” and that means hot chocolate milk and “erwtensoep” (pea soup). When the weather starts to freeze, everybody keeps their fingers crossed for natural ice. Ice skating is one of the most beautiful Dutch traditions!
Vegetarian pea soup
If there is natural ice, then of course this is a good reason for real pea soup. Unfortunately the traditional pea soup is not vegetarian. It usually contains pork and is often served with smoked sausage. As a vegetarian, I am not discouraged, so I started looking for vegetarian soup options. And they do exist! And super tasty too!
Homemade pea soup
Recently I’ve experimented with the vegetarian options for this soup and now I’m sharing the results with you!
Serve the soup with rye bread or (homemade) whole-wheat bread. Enjoy :).
Ingredients vegetarian pea soup
You don’t need much at all to make the tastiest home-made vegetarian pea soup! In no time at all you have this traditional filled soup on the table.
Koek & Zopie Recipe
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour
Nutritional information:
Calories: 342kcal
Ingredients
- 400 grams of dried split peas
- 4 vegetable stock cubes
- 2 winter carrots about 200 grams
- 5 stalks of celery
- 1/2 celeriac about 350 grams
- 2 leeks 300-400 grams
- 30 grams of celery leaves
- salt
- pepper
As you can see, you only need a few ingredients for this vegetarian pea soup! It’s mainly a matter of letting it simmer, being patient and then enjoying your bowl of homemade soup!
Instructions
- Put the split peas in a colander and rinse them with water. Put the split peas in a soup pan, together with 2 litres of water and the 4 stock cubes. Let the peas simmer for about 45 minutes on medium-high heat.
- Meanwhile, wash all the vegetables. Peel the carrot and celery and cut them into small cubes of about 0.5 cm. Wash the leek and cut it into small pieces.
After 45 minutes, add the vegetables to the split peas and cook for a further 20 minutes. Add 200-500 ml of water, depending on how thick you want the soup. - Remove the celery leaves from the sprigs and finely chop them into small pieces. Add to the soup. Season the soup with salt and pepper if necessary.
Optional, to serve
Serve the soup with a slice of rye bread or sourdough bread.
Kid-friendly tips
You do not need to puree pea soup, but children usually like it better. So to make pea soup kid proof, puree the soup.