Leek/Pea Soup with Pistachio and Pomegranate

A delicious soup made with black eyed peas, yellow split peas, and leeks, topped with pomegranate seeds and pistachios! Perfect for New Years!

There is a tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Years for luck in the coming year. I first heard about this when I bought some black eyed peas from Rancho Gordo (which always has their Super Lucky 2023 Black Eyed Peas, for each year), but it also came up a lot on a Facebook page I am part of called Vegan Beans.

I did a bit of research of how the tradition evolved and found it has its origins in the American Civil War.

What I love about this dish are the contrasts, an important part of making food interesting, both visually and in the mouth feel. The al dente black eyed peas provide a texture contrast to the mushiness of the split peas. The toppings provide a contrast to the color of the split peas. It isn’t fair that everything is ganging up on the split peas! Oh well!

I use Al Wadi brand pomegranate molasses as it has no added sugars.I get it from Olive Nation.

Recipe

Leek/Pea Soup with Pistachio and Pomegranate

A delicious soup to help bring luck in the New Year, or, frankly, any time of the year. The contrasts of texture and color really make this an experience of the eyes and palate!

Please do use the pot liquor from the black eyed peas to cook the split peas. It gives the soup much more body and flavor.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Side

Cuisine Eclectic

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ¾ cup black eyed peas
• 1 ¼ cup split peas yellow
• 6 medium leeks can use into the pale green bit, but not the tough leaves
• 4 cups pot liquor reserved from cooking the beans, topped off with water if not enough
• 1 cup pistachios dry roasted
• pomegranate molasses
• pomegranate seeds optional
•  

Instructions

 

• Soak the black eyed peas at least 3 hours before cooking. If you can, soak them overnight.
• Rinse the beans and add to a saucepan. Add about 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook until just tender. You want them to be al dente to provide a small bit of crunch. This took about 45 minutes.
• While the beans are cooking, rinse and pick over the split peas. When the beans are done, reserve 4 cups of the pot liquor from the beans. If there is less than 4 cups, add water to bring to the needed amount.
• Chop off the tough leaves from the leeks and chop off the root section. Cut the tender part of the leek in 1 inch thick discs, then quarter them lengthwise. Since any dirt that is in between. 
• Saute the leeks in a small amount of olive oil until brown, about 10 minutes. If cooking the split peas in an Instant Pot, cook the leeks on Saute Mode in the IP. If cooking the split peas on the stove top, brown the leeks in the pan that you will cook the peas in.
• If cooking the peas in an Instant Pot, set the IP to high pressure and set the timer for 15 minutes. Do an instant release when the timer goes off. Cooking on the stove top can take up to 2 hours.
• Add the split peas and the black eyed peas. Add water if you want the soup thinner. Mix well. Heat in a pan until at the desire temperature.
• Chop the pistachios to a desired size.
• Ladle the soup into the bowls. Sprinkle the top of the soup with pistachios and pomegranate seeds, if used. Swirl the top with pomegranate molasses.
• Enjoy!

Keyword black eyed peas, leeks, pistachio, pomegranate, soup, split peas, vegan

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