Golden Broth Soup with Butter Dumplings

For the broth: Boil 2 quarts of water, onion, garlic and yellow split peas together for 30-40 minutes or until the peas are soft (or if you like texture, you can leave some of them firm). You can speed up the cooking time by soaking the peas in water before you start cooking. When done, smush the peas with a potato masher or large spoon.

Once you have the broth ready, add the celery, carrots and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are at a texture you like. Check the cooking directions on your noodles and add them in early enough so that they are done at the same time that your veggies will be finished.

You can stop here or you can move on to the butter dumplings! These are what makes this special soup an awesome soup.

It’s possible that your broth is starting to evaporate and you need to add a bit more liquid. You can throw in a can of veggie broth or water plus vegetable bouillon. I dig the “Better Than Bouillon” brand. Here, it’s really about what tastes good to you. Sometimes I add just a teaspoon, other times it’s two. Don’t be afraid to taste your soup while it’s cooking!

So now that we’re all brothy again (I really can’t tell you how much it requires, it’s just a feel thing, sorry!), let’s work on some dumplings.

So take your soft butter and cut it into your flour (not unlike making pie dough). Mix it all up with eggs to make a gooey mess and season with salt and pepper. (Unfortunately I can’t be much clearer, sorry!)

Now, drop it by half-teaspoonfuls into the simmering broth (hint: it doesn’t have to be a half-teaspoon; the dumplings will DOUBLE in size when they are cooked, so just go by whatever size you like). At some point it will look like you can’t fit anymore, but keep on spooning! Then, cover the whole mess and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Give it a gentle stir. Now eat! Mmm.