Dried Pea Soup

Ingredients

• 1 quart split peas or Lima beans
• 3 quarts soft water
• 3 onions, chopped
• pepper
• salt
• 1 large piece butter
• flour
• slices salt pork, nice quality
• 1 large teaspoonful celery seed, pounded
• bread, toasted and cut into dice

Instructions

1. Combine one quart of split peas or Lima beans (Lima beans are better) with three quarts of very soft water and three chopped onions. Season with pepper and salt. Boil for two hours.
2. Mash the cooked peas well and pass them through a sieve to strain out solids, returning the liquid to the pot.
3. Thicken the soup with a large piece of butter and flour worked together. Add slices of nice salt pork and one large teaspoonful of pounded celery seed. Continue boiling until the pork is done.
4. While the soup finishes cooking, toast bread, cut it into dice, and fry it in butter. Put these buttered bread cubes in the tureen before pouring in the soup.