Pea Soup With Bacon Recipe

I found this recipe in a Family Circle magazine some years ago.  I hope they don't get upset at having it reprinted!  It's an excellent recipe.  

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb bacon, chopped
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 8 cups water
• 2 tbsp instant chicken broth granules
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb dried split peas, picked over and rinsed

1. Cook bacon in large pot over medium heat for 5 minutes or until bacon is lightly browned. Remove bacon with slotted spoon to paper toweling.
2. Add potato, carrot and celery to bacon fat in pot; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add water, chicken broth granules and salt. Bring to boiling. Add split peas and reserved bacon. Reduce heat; simmer until split peas are tender, about 1 hour. If soup gets too thick, add more water as needed.

This recipe can also be modified for a crock pot.  The way we did it was by basically reducing the water to 6 cups, and not making any use of the bacon fat.  It worked well, which is an indication to me that vegetarians can make a fine split pea soup without bacon, though I expect that this would come out superior in the crock pot.  I think the regular method works pretty well, and the amount of work isn't much more.

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