Split Pea Soup

I have wondered for a while how a soup without onion or garlic would fare - like a chocolate chip cookie without the chocolate chips? A lame excuse for a soup? I experimented and I was actually pleasantly surprised, yes, one shouldn't assume, because we all know what that means. I used parsnips for sweetness and celery as the base, added a chipotle for some smokiness (ok, so not quite the same as pork...) and an avocado for creaminess. It was yum! Onions be gone.

1 parsnip
3 ribs of celery
3 cups of green split peas, preferably organic
water
salt & pepper
olive oil
1 chipotle
sprig of thyme
sage leaf
1 ripe avocado

- Put split peas into a pot and cover with cold water. Let them sit for at least 2 hours, making sure they are topped up with water. They should increase significantly in volume - the pre-soaking decreases cooking time and helps the peas cook more evenly.
- Peel & grate parsnip.
- Finely mince or grate celery stalks
- Add 3 tbs of olive oil to a pot on medium heat, add parsnip, celery, thyme, sage and the chipotle pepper; cook until the parsnip and celery are translucent and soft.
- Drain peas and add to pot.
- Top up with water (about an inch above the peas). Monitor soup as it cooks over med-low heat to make sure it does not dry out. You don't want to add too much water, otherwise the soup will be, well, soupy... you want this to be thick and porridgey (if there is such a word)!
- Season to taste; I found the peas needed a significant amount of sea salt.
- Cook until the peas break down. You can then puree the soup (it's nice to leave some texture though) or leave it chunky. At this stage, mash the avocado until very smooth and mix into the soup for creaminess. Yum!