London Particular Soup

London particular soup is a rich and comforting soup using split peas, vegetables and bacon.

I love to serve this at Christmas time as it's a perfect way to use up leftover ham and those vegetables left at the bottom of the fridge!

This is a great family dish as picky eaters can't find the vegetables and it's naturally gluten free too.

Delicious as a starter, lunch or dinner for family and friends.

Enjoy!

My family are big soup eaters and they are quite happy to have a big bowl of this soup with a hunk of bread for dinner.

There's nothing like a warming bowl of soup in the winter and it's even better when you have all the ingredients to hand.

Although celery, onions and carrots are traditionally used, it's easy to add many vegetables that you have leftover rather than let them go to waste.

And, as for that festive ham? We always have lots leftover for pies, pizzas and pasta, but those little pieces from the carving tray are perfect to pop into soups.

So, although this is a frugal soup, it's hearty enough for a meal, a starter when you're entertaining or a filling lunch.

Jump to:

• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• ⏲️ Cooking time
• 💭 Top tip
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Storage
• FAQs
• More soup recipes to try
• 📋 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🥘 Ingredients

• Split peas - dried yellow split peas are used in this recipe and there is no need to soak them first.
• Chicken stock - from a tin or granules. This is the perfect way to use stock made from turkey bones or cooking liquid if you boiled your ham.
• Butter and olive oil - for frying the vegetables
• Bacon - smoked streaky bacon for the soup and garnish or ready cooked leftover smoked ham.
• Onion - any cooking onion.
• Celery
• Carrot
• Leek
• Bread - white or brown bread for croutons for garnish.

See recipe card for quantities.

🍽 Equipment

• Large (4 litre) saucepan with lid
• Wooden Spoon
• Stick blender or blender
• Chopping board
• Vegetable knife
• Frying pan / skillet or oven tray

🔪 Instructions

Rough chop the bacon, onions, carrots, leeks and celery.

Set half of the bacon aside.

Heat a tablespoon of the oil and the butter in a large heavy saucepan.

Add the bacon and fry for 2 minutes.

Tip in the vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Pour in the stock and split peas then add the lid.

⏲️ Cooking time

Bring the mixture to a boil then simmer or an hour until the peas are tender.

While the soup is cooking make the garnishes for the soup.

Slice off the crusts from sliced bread and cut into cubes about 1 cm or half an inch.

Heat the remaining butter and oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the cubes of bread.

Fry for a few minutes, turning regularly, until they are golden and crisp.

Tip them out onto kitchen paper to drain.

Use the same pan to dry fry the remaining bacon.

💭 Top tip

• If you have the oven on for something else it's much easier to put the bacon in slices on a baking sheet, in a single layer and bake at 200C/400F/180FAN/Gas6 for 5-10 minutes. There is a lot less mess and the bacon is much crispier.

When the soup has finished cooking let the mixture cool for a few minutes.

Use an immersion or stick blender to blend the mixture. I prefer to leave some texture in the soup, but either way it will be naturally thick without adding any flour.

💭 Top tip

• If you choose to use a full size blender, only fill it two thirds full as hot liquid expands in volume and can spill over.

Serve the soup with the croutons and bacon sprinkled over the top.

Delicious!

Substitutions

• Yellow split peas - use green split peas instead and the flavour will be the same.
• Bacon - use any type of bacon that you have or any cooked ham.

Variations

• Vegetables - use cooked leftovers from a roast dinner such as parsnips, carrots, sprouts and just cook for a few minutes before adding the stock and peas. Or, use whatever you have in the fridge, such as swede or squashes for a change.

Storage

This soup will keep for a week in the fridge.

If you have made the soup from scratch, without using any leftovers then you can also freeze this soup for up to 3 months.

FAQs

More soup recipes to try

• Seafood Bisque
• Pea and Mint Soup
• Slow Cooker Oxtail Soup
• Broccoli Stilton Soup
• Roasted Tomato Garlic Soup
• Tarragon and Mushroom Soup

📋 Recipe

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I love to read them and answer your questions. However, due to spam comments, I do have to moderate each one, so don't worry if you cannot see your comment immediately. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can.