Northern Irish Vegetable Soup

Some foods are so ingrained in your growing up that you don’t even notice them. Wracking my brain a few St Patrick’s days ago, I couldn’t think of any typical Irish/Northern Irish foods to make for the occasion. This would have been perfect, but for me it wasn't "traditional Irish fare" it was just what my mum used to cook for dinner in the winter.

So the other day I was really hankering for vegetable soup. Proper vegetable soup. I had a quick look on the online grocery stores for the soup mix packs which are ubiquitous in Northern Ireland. They basically have the mix of pulses or a mix of the vegetables needed. I couldn’t find any, so I did what any self-respecting Northern Irish girl would do – I called my mummy.

She knew what I needed, and I ended up buying the ingredients individually. But all that means is I have enough dry ingredients for so many future bowls of soup. Winner!

This is a very quick and simple dinner, all in you’re talking an hour for it to cook (with one instance of overnight soaking) and you can leave it to simmer away on its own for most of that.

I served mine like my mum does – with some shredded roasted chicken and some wheaten bread. I made the bread while the soup was cooking, because Irish bread is all about instant gratification – no rising time required.

makes 4 generous bowls of soup

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup split peas
• ½ cup pearl barley
• 1/3 cup red lentils
• 2 carrots
• 3 sticks celery
• 1 red onion
• 3 spring onions
• ½ a bunch of parsley
• 1.5 litres vegetable stock

Method

The night before you want your soup, soak the split peas in some lightly salted water. If you can’t be bothered, just leave them out and increase the amount of barley and lentils slightly, as those two require no pre-soaking.

When you’re ready to make your soup, clean and then chop all the veggies into small chunks.

Add the stock to a pan and bring to a gentle boil. Drop in the pulses (peas, barley, lentils) and let them cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the veggies and allow to bubble away for 10 minutes, again stirring occasionally.

Finally, turn the heat down a little, partially cover, and let everything simmer away for 30 minutes until the veggies and pulses are soft. Stir every once in a while.

Serve however you like, but the correct choice is with at least some wheaten bread, and I like adding the chicken for a bit of extra protein.