Siciliana In Training: Mint Split Pea Soup. Rainy day lunch,

Suprisingly good. Easy to make.

As much as I appreciate and strive to live a slow food lifestyle, sometimes ya gotta settle for almost slow food. This may not be an especially italian soup recipe, but since I am still here, using Italian ingredients, I guess it qualifies. The mint is something I don't see in many recipes, but definitely an ingredient we see more in Sicily these days. Loads of North Africans who have brought their food with them. I found dried mint still on the stem, actually in a box This was a treat. The flavor is preserved if the leaves have not been crushed. So adjust your preparation accordingly. You might want to add more if the mint you find is already crushed. Enjoy!

1/2 large white onion, chopped
1 long sweet light green colored italian pepper, diced small with seeds
1 10 inch celery stalk, Preferably outer stalk, with dark green leaves attached. peeled if necessary and sliced 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
1 cup split peas
xvoo to cover bottom of 2 quart saucepan.
3 Tbs of dried mint leaves
6-10 cups of water
1 cup of yesterday's homemade tomato sauce (ours was tomato out of a jar, with garlic, onions, salt and pepper, fresh basil and xvoo added, cooked down with a bit of water. I think the Butcher might have added a pinch of bicarbonate to kill the acidity)
1\2cup of pastina - any small type of past we used lancette al'uova. They looked like little cannoli shells, tiny, tiny, cannoli shells

1. saute onions, pepper and celery. till good and aromatic, translucent. About 15 minutes. if it is cooking too fast, toss in some water and lower the heat, this should not fry. we want the onions nice and juicy .

2. add split peas

3. add water.

4. add about a 1\2 tsp sea salt, 1\4 tsp of pepper.

5. This needs to be bought up to a boil, then reduced to a simmer . Then let cook for about 30 minutes. I need to make a note about the water quantity on this recipe. This cooked for about an hour and a half in total, so a good deal of water evaporated in that time. I needed to top it off every once in a while,. About 45 minutes into the cooking, Check that the split peas are edible, they might still have a bit of resistence, al dente. This is the time to add the sauce and the mint. Rub the leaves of mint in your hand to release the essential oils.

6. At this point the soup has probably reduced a bit. Add 1 cup of water. Let this simmer for another 20 minutes or so.

7. The split peas should be really soft at this point. Take the pot off the heat. If you want to serve it later, add small pasta when you reheat it, and cook for about 8 minutes at a medium boil. Before cooking with the pasta, if the soup is really thick, add another cup of water bring to a boil, then add pasta.

Sometimes the everydayness of living here draws me into a kind of dullness. I forget what attracted me in the first place. I guess it is like a love affair. Remembering to see what we saw the first time. Where we live, afterall is only as good as how we live. I loved today's soup because it was warm and made under the rafters of our sweet little apartment while I tended the tomatoes on the terrace and did the casalinga. If I ever leave this place, I will always make soup and remember this day, and use my best Italian dishes to remind me of elegance among the everydayness of everyday.