I find after a long day at work…

There’s nothing better than sitting down,

And enjoying a lovely meal with my family.

As much as I love to cook,

And spend hours and hours in the kitchen,

There are some days that even I can’t be bothered with dinner prep,

But being fussy,

And not a fan of take-away,

I can’t go a single day without a proper, home-cooked meal.

That’s why I love my pre-prepared meals.

Meals that don’t take hours to make,

Meals that can be put together in minutes,

Sometimes just heated up…

Usually needing a salad to accompany the main,

Some lovely warmed bread…

Or as little as a garnish to spruce it up.

One such meal is my veggie & spilt pea soup.

It takes a little prep work –

Usually over the weekend,

Boiling up chicken bones or carcasses,

Then doing the celery, carrot & potato thing…

And finally adding some split pea for protein, texture and flavour.

This is a pre-prepared meal that I love.

I literally heat up my soup for 5-10 minutes,

And then garnish with things like chopped spring onion,

Chili and parsley…

Serve up with some lemon wedges…

And lovely crusty bread,

Drizzled with olive oil.

A salad if I’m really keen,

Of the green variety,

And within 15 minutes on a school night,

After a long day at work,

Soup’s served up,

Family is chatting away about the day…

And the belly,

And family…

Are in a very happy place.

All that’s left to say now is…

Buon appetito!

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Ingredients for the Bone Broth

500g chicken bones (or 2 carcasses)
4 litres of water
1 flat tbsp sea salt
1 brown onion peeled and cut in half
Tops of 4 celery stalks with leaves roughly chopped
2 carrots chopped into large pieces
¼ cup olive oil
2 bay leaf
1 tbsp peppercorns

Ingredients for the soup

4 stalks of celery (no tops) chopped into bite size pieces
2 large carrots chopped into bite size pieces
2 large brushed potatoes chopped into pieces
1 ½ cups yellow split peas
1 lemon cut into wedges (for serving)
Chilli, spring onions & parsley to garnish (optional)

Method for broth

In a large pot add the chicken bones, water, oil, salt, onion, celery, carrots, bay leaf and peppercorns and bring to the boil.

Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for around 4-5 hours.

Strain broth and transfer the broth to a large pot.

Method for the soup

Add the celery, carrots, potatoes and split peas to the bone broth and bring to the boil.

Reduce to a simmer and cook covered for around 30-45 minutes or until the veggies and the split peas are tender.

Serve garnished with sliced chillies and spring onions and with a squeeze of lemon.