Swedish Green Split Peas With Bacon

By norsegal8

This is from "The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas". I made the entire "Swedish Winter Feast" for a past Christmas and it was wonderful! I'll post the other recipes next. The whole meal is: Swedish Corned Pork Roast, Swedish Sauerkraut, Swedish Green Split Peas with Bacon, Mashed Rutabaga, Turnip, and Potato & Sweet and Hot Mustard, served with Rye Bread. I expected not to like anything and ended up LOVING everything!

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb bacon, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced
• 1 lb split peas, washed and soaked in 6 cups water for 6 hours-overnight
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 cube)

Preparation

Step 1

Directions:

1 Brown the bacon in a frying pan. Remove the bacon and set aside. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. Add onion and saute until tender.

2 Drain peas and place in a 4 to 6 quart pot along with reserved bacon and sauteed onions. Add enough water to just cover the peas.

3 Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, about 1 1/2 hours, or until the water is absorbed and the peas are thick. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and add more water if necessary.

4 Stir in salt and pepper to taste and the butter.