Polish-Style Pea Soup

Ingredients

• 400 g dried peeled yellow peas
• 2 Potatoes
• 100 g mild pickled pork belly
• 400 g Polish sausages
• 2 carrots
• 2 cm fresh ginger
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp piment seeds
• 1 juniper berry
• 2 cloves of spice clove
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tbsp grated marjoram

Instructions

1. 1.

   Rinse the peas in a sieve under cold running water. Soak the peas in plenty of cold water for 2 hours.

2. 2.

   Peel and dice the carrots and potatoes. Rinse the pork belly, place it in 1 liter of water, bring to a boil, and skim off the foam.

3. 3.

   Peel the ginger, cut into pieces, and add with the bay leaf, crushed piment seeds, and cloves to the broth. Cover and simmer gently for 1½ hours.

4. 4.

   Drain the soaked peas and stir them into the soup, seasoning with salt. Cook on low heat for about 45 minutes until the peas are almost broken down. After 20 minutes of cooking, add the carrot and potato cubes. Slice the sausages and add them 10 minutes before the end of cooking with a touch of marjoram.

5. 5.

   Remove the pork belly, cut the meat into small pieces, and stir it back into the soup. Season the soup with salt and pepper and serve sprinkled with marjoran.