Six O'Clock Solution: Crisply fried salami adds bite to split pea soup

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Turn the pages of a new cookbook of soups and stews and you can almost smell the vapours of one of its warming mixtures, beautifully photographed, with recipes carefully written by the editors of Saveur Magazine, the highly rated publication for food lovers who like their cuisine international. As editor Adam Sachs puts it in his introduction to Saveur Soups and Stews (Weldon Owen/Simon & Schuster, $45), the more than 80 recipes in this handsome book reflect the cuisines of the world while offering “endlessly adaptable answers to the riddle of life’s bounty.”

A minimum of chopping, a quick frying to crisp the salami and most of the one-hour cooking job proceeds unattended. All that’s needed is a tossed green salad or bowl of coleslaw, plus some crusty bread. The recipes are divided as to principle ingredient – red meat, poultry, seafood, fresh vegetables, beans and legumes, noodles and dumplings, winding up with a chapter on chilled soups. Basic stock recipes are included. This book is a winner.

Split Pea Soup with Salami

Serves 8

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 piece (85 grams) hard salami, in ¼-inch pieces

1 carrot, thickly sliced

1 stalk celery, thickly sliced

1 small yellow onion, thickly sliced

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, or pinch dried

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme, or pinch dried

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 bay leaf

500 grams dried split peas (2 cups)

8 cups chicken stock

Kosher or coarse salt

Freshly ground pepper

Whole grain mustard

Additional fresh chopped thyme or flat-leaf parsley

Heat oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook salami until fat is rendered out and salami is crisp, two to three minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer salami to a bowl and set aside. Drain off salami fat, if desired, and replace with more oil.

Using medium heat, add carrot, celery and onion to the fat in pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, six to eight minutes. Add rosemary, thyme, garlic and bay leaf and cook until fragrant, one to two minutes. Stir in split peas and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, partly covered, until peas are soft, about one hour. Discard bay leaf.

With saucepan on medium heat, season soup with salt and pepper to taste. Using a wire whisk, beat soup until it thickens. Serve in heated bowls, each topped with some of the salami, a dollop of mustard, and a sprinkling of thyme or parsley.

(An earlier version of this recipe gave incomplete instructions. The Montreal Gazette regrets the error.)