You can modify it for “pure” vegetarian quite easily by substituting vegetable stock for the chicken stock and smoked tofu for the smoked pork joint
Step 1
take 1/2 cup each of the dried lentils and split peas and place them in a pot or bowl and fill the bowl with 5-6 cups of water. Leave to stand overnight.
Step 2
Drain the lentils + peas and rinse them several times to remove all the small bits of hulls etc from them.
Step 3
take the lentil/pea mix and put into a stock pot, add two ‘bricks’ of stock to the pot and 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then set to simmer/low and cover.
Next finely dice an onion and sauté with a teaspoon of butter in a non-stick pan until the onions are transparent and very slightly browned. Dump the onion into the stock pot.
After 2 hours remove 1 cup of the soup and process it in a food blender or use a stick blender. Add it back to the pot. Simmer the pot for about an additional hour.
Serving:
Remove the bay leaves (and any bones if doing the smoked pork version)
Grill some toast or grill some tortillas and cut them up and use them as a side or add directly to the soup. If you want calories add a tablespoon of sour cream to the soup smack dab in the middle and sprinkle a little diced parsley or chives and serve.
Optional:
For the tofu version dice the tofu into ribbons or cubes and add it for the last 15 - 20 minutes prior to serving. This ensures the flavour gets into the soup and the tofu doesn’t break apart but does become a bit more tender
For the smoked pork, add the diced smoked pork chop to the soup when adding the onions. Throw in the bones as well. They add a lot of flavour.
