Split Pea and Pork Shoulder Soup - Electric Pressure Cooker
All the slow cooked flavor of split pea soup without the all day cooking in a crock pot.
All the slow cooked flavor of split pea soup without the all day cooking in a crock pot.
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/4 pound pork shoulder - smoked or pork hock rustic dice
- 8 cups vegetable stock
- 24 ounces dried split peas sorted for stones
- 2 carrots diced
- 2 celery diced
- 1 medium sweet onion diced
- 1-1.5 teaspoon thyme
- 1-2 tablespoons bacon lard (can omit if you feel guilty) yeah bacon is bad but you can't beat its flavor in this soup
- brandy
- Carbohydrate 56.8390704916456 g
- Cholesterol 7.62578125 mg
- Fat 3.6078903125 g
- Fiber 15.1308499818146 g
- Protein 14.3122028124985 g
- Saturated Fat 1.92055875 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (1599g)
- Sodium 5683.64874156138 mg
- Sugar 41.708220509831 g
- Trans Fat 0.3951065625 g
- Calories 309 calories
Step-by-step
- Fill pressure cooker with vegetable stock and other ingredients, except Brandy. You could skip or substitute butter for the bacon lard, but what the heck, live a little!
- Make sure the pot is no more than 2/3 full.
- Put lid on cooker, set at high pressure for 20 minutes.
- Let cooker release steam naturally, this takes about 20-30 minutes depending on your pressure cooker
- If using a pork bone, remove and pull all meat off and add to soup.
- Adjust salt and pepper to suit your taste at this point.
- Serve with a splash of Brandy mixed in to the batch, if you wish.
- Enjoy!
Substituting fresh pork shoulder for a smoked ham hock transforms this soup from heavily cured to deeply savory, relying entirely on rendered bacon fat for the smoky profile usually supplied by cured bones. Fresh cuts require explicit seasoning adjustments at the table because they lack the built-in salinity of preserved pork products. Sorting dried split peas beforehand ensures no foreign stones damage equipment blades during the initial sauté phase.
Pressure cooking breaks down dense legume starches rapidly, but overloading the vessel past the two-thirds mark restricts the steam circulation required for uniform softening. Allowing a full twenty to thirty minutes of natural pressure release prevents scorching by letting starches stabilize gradually rather than boiling over violently through the venting valve.
Searing aromatics like carrots, celery, and sweet onion directly in the cooker base develops foundational Maillard compounds before liquids enter the chamber. Deglazing the bottom thoroughly with vegetable stock prevents the thick pea purees from triggering the burn notice sensors common in modern thermal cookers.
Finishing the batch with a splash of brandy introduces complex ethanol notes that brighten the heavy starch profile just before ladling. Adjusting salinity strictly after the pressure cycle concludes prevents over-concentration since liquid reduction varies significantly depending on the specific gasket seal of each appliance model.
