Louvana Yellow Split- Pea Soup

A delicious soup for the cold winter days!!!

Louvana Yellow Split- Pea Soup

In Cyprus people say “When it’s cold… it’s time for two!...” Unfortunately it’s not always possible to have somebody to cuddle up to and face the cold together. That΄s when you should have some “Louvana soup”!!!... It΄s a Cyprus speciality made from yellow split peas. It is really delicious, low fat, gluten free, low cost and easy to prepare!

You will probably have come across yellow split peas in Dal dishes in Indian restaurants.

Ingredients:

2cups yellow split peas
5-6 cups water
½ cup rice
½ cup olive oil
2medium sized onions finely chopped
2-3 slices of bread cut into crouton-size cubes
2-3 lemons juiced
Salt, peper to taste

Preparation:

Wash the yellow peas in several changes of cold water and place it in a deep pan with water. Bring to boil. Add rice, reduce heat, cover pot and let simmer until both peas and rice become so soft that they almost melt.

Mix the louvana and rice in a blender to give a thick soup. If it’s too thick add some more water.

In the meantime, heat olive oil in a pan. Fry cubed bread until it becomes a golden brown color.

Remove fried bread from pan and add onion. Fry until is golden brown.

Place louvana over low heat to keep it warm. Add fried onion in it,

Salt and peper to taste and add the lemon juice.

Serve louvana soup garnished with fried bread cubes.

Trust me… it’s so simple but so tasty. But if you want to make it even more rich in taste, in addition to the fried bread, add some pieces of crispy smoked bacon.

Enjoy Louvana soup accompanied by black olives, some village sausage and definitely a glass of red dry wine!