Pure Mountain Split Pea & Butternut Soup with Sour Cream, Pumpkin Seeds & Chives

To garnish

4 tablespoons sour cream

Freshly chopped chives

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Salt & black pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, melt the butter over a medium-high heat and add the whole spices until they begin to crackle. Add the butternut and split peas and sauté for 2 – 3 minutes.

Add milk, chicken stock, salt, cinnamon and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes over a medium heat.

Remove whole spices and puree to a smooth consistency.

To serve, drizzle with sour cream, pumpkin seeds, freshly ground black pepper, chives & serve with warm bread.

Notes

· To prepare the split peas, soak for a minimum of 1 hour to overnight in salted water. Drain and pressure cook for about 30 minutes. If you’d prefer to skip this step, soak for about 30 minutes in boiling hot water and follow the above recipe using a pressure cooker. Once you add the water in step 3, turn on the pressure cooker and cook for about 3 whistles or so until the peas are cooked. If the consistency isn’t thick enough at this point, you can simmer for slightly longer.

· When blending, put a tablespoon of butter whilst the food processor is pureeing, it’ll make it super fluffy and soft

· This is incredible for babies too, simply omit the whole spices, cinnamon, garnishes and adjust salt quantity for a baby friendly meal.

· By substituting the butter to olive oil, chicken stock to vegetable stock and use a nut based milk, the recipe is purely vegan.