Pea Soup with Crispy Pork Belly

The majority of the time spent preparing this dish goes into browning the pork belly and caramelizing the onions.  However, you can make the most of this time by prepping the vegetables at the same time.  Just be careful to keep an eye on the stove, burnt onions are useless. (and stinky)

Pea Soup with Crispy Pork Belly
makes 8-10 servings

10-12 thick slices of lean pork belly (4-5″ long slices)
2 large onions, diced
4-5 stalks of celery, sliced
5 carrots, sliced into rounds
4-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
5-6 cups vegetable stock
1 lb split peas, washed
splash red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon thyme, ground
1 teaspoon basil, ground
1/4 teaspoon clove, ground
1 bay leaf

3-4 Tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

In a large dutch oven over moderate heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and layer pork belly slices allowing sufficient space to properly brown the bacon.  Brown bacon to a deep golden brown and set on paper to drain.

Discard all but 3-4 tablespoons of rendered bacon fat.  Add diced onions to dutch oven and caramelize to a nice golden brown.  Add garlic and saute for an additional minute.  Then, add celery, carrots, vegetable stock, peas, a generous splash of red wine vinegar, bay leaf and spices.  Add half of the reserved & browned pork belly(reserving the remainder to garnish).  Stir briefly and cover dutch oven.  Place in the oven and cook at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 – 3 hours.  When peas and pork belly are tender add the parsley and stir to incorporate.

Garnish each bowl with one slice of crispy pork belly.  (Leftovers don’t get a garnish.)

Next time:

I’ll be adding a fine chiffonade of fresh basil and a dollop of sour cream to the garnish.