AI-generated image
Sopa de chícharos
Sopa de chícharos: thick Cuban split-pea soup with pumpkin and potato (meat-free)
When money is tight in Cuban homes, the pot of chícharos comes out: yellow or green split peas cooked to a thick purée with potato, calabaza pumpkin and a sofrito of onion, pepper and garlic. Most families cook it with a ham bone or chorizo; this version keeps it meat-free and gets its depth from smoked paprika and plenty of cumin. A common mistake is adding salt at the start, which can keep the peas from softening, so season once they have collapsed. Serve with white rice or crusty bread. Chef's tip: stir a spoonful of the hot sofrito into the soup right at the end, not just at the start, for a fresh garlicky lift.
- Total time
- 75 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 14 oz yellow split peasrinsed
- 2 litres water
- 2 potatoespeeled, cut into 2 cm cubes
- 10 ½ oz pumpkinpeeled, cut into 2 cm cubes (or butternut squash)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 1 green pepperfinely chopped
- 4 garlic clovescrushed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 ½ tsp saltto taste
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (4)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put 14 oz yellow split peas, 2 litres water and 2 bay leaves in a large pot, bring to the boil, skim off the foam, then simmer partly covered for 35 minutes, stirring now and then.
35 minStep 3: Meanwhile, warm 3 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook 1 onion and 1 green pepper for 8 minutes, until soft. Add 4 garlic cloves, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp smoked paprika and ½ tsp dried oregano and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.
9 minStep 4: Stir three-quarters of the sofrito into the soup with 1 ½ tsp salt and simmer for 5 minutes. Mash some of the pumpkin and potato against the side to thicken it.
5 minStep 5: Fish out the bay leaves, stir in 1 tsp white wine vinegar and the rest of the sofrito and serve. The soup thickens as it stands; loosen leftovers with water.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 320 kcal
- Protein
- 17 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 15 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does sopa de chícharos take?
- About 75 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of bay leaves?
- Leave it out, or a pinch of dried thyme (it's a background flavour).
- What can I use instead of potatoes?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Soto Banjar
Along the rivers of Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, breakfast often means soto Banjar eaten at a wooden riverside warung, sometimes after a dawn trip to the floating market. Unlike the turmeric sotos of Java, this broth is pale and clear, perfumed with the sweet spices that traders brought up the river centuries ago: cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cardamom and nutmeg. Shredded chicken, glass noodles, carrot and a boiled egg go into the bowl with rice cakes, and lime and a little chilli sharpen it at the table. Chef's tip: toast the whole spices in the pan for a minute before the paste goes in; it brings out their sweetness without the dusty edge of ground spice.
Indonesian
Sopa da pedra
Almeirim, a market town in the Ribatejo, is the capital of this soup; its restaurants serve it every day, and each bowl arrives with a clean stone at the bottom, after the folk tale of a friar who 'made soup from a stone' by talking villagers into giving him everything else. This is a pork soup: red kidney beans simmer with chouriço, morcela blood sausage and a piece of pork belly, then potatoes, carrots and coriander finish it into a thick, hearty bowl. Chef's tip: cook the sausages whole and slice them at the end, so they stay juicy and don't turn the broth greasy.
Portuguese
Miso soup
Miso soup (味噌汁) is drunk every day in homes all over Japan, at breakfast as well as dinner, beside a bowl of rice. The base is dashi; this vegan version uses kombu and dried shiitake instead of bonito, which gives it a deep, rounded flavour. Silken tofu and wakame seaweed are the classic fillings. It takes ten minutes; just remember not to boil the miso. Chef's tip: add the miso at the very end and never let it boil. Boiling kills the miso's fresh, fermented aroma; Japanese cooks say the soup should only 'smile', with the surface barely trembling.
Japanese