I haven’t been eating much because there are currently like 50 sutures in my mouth, so lately I’ve had to limit myself to soft foods and lots of soups. Here’s one soup I’ve recently enjoyed.

Split Pea Soup with Smoked Bacon

• 1 1/2 pound split peas, rinsed
• 8-9 slices thick slab smoked bacon, the smokier the better
• 8 cups quick vegetable stock (directions to follow)
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, lightly bruised
• 1/4 bunch parsley, whole leaves
• 7-8 broad green chard leaves, stem and white “backbone” removed
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/4 bunch parsley, finely chopped and set aside
• Sea salt
• Coarse ground pepper
• Finely ground white pepper

Generously cover peas with boiling water and soak for 4 hours. Strain.

Start the quick vegetable stock

In a small stockpot, combine:

• 9 cups water
• The 1 inch ends and nubs of entire celery stalk, plus 2 stalks
• 1 onion, halved
• 3 unpeeled carrots, halved
• the “garbage” half end of an entire parsley bunch (stems and few leaves)
• 1 tablespoon peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon white peppercorns
• 6 bay leaves

Bring to a bowl, then lower to simmer for at least 90 minutes.

Mix the chopped herbs (save the chopped parsley)

Combine onion, carrots, celery, parsley leaves, garlic, and chard into your “aromatics” bowl.

Dice the bacon into 1/2 inch squares. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat, and add bacon and a pinch of herb mixture and sautee for 10 minutes or more. Bacon should be brown and give off a lot of fat.

Using slotted spoon, remove bacon crispies to a dish lined with a paper towel, leaving about 1 tablespoon or so of bacon meat sitting in the pan in a nice pool of shimmering bacon fat.

Add the aromatic vegetables to the pan, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt, a few fresh grinds of pepper, and the remainder of the herbs, and saute for 10 minutes, until the vegetables start to get soft. Turn up the heat to highest possible setting (stirring constantly), and when the pan starts to smoke deglaze with white wine, all the while stirring and scraping up the fond from the bottom of the pan.

Add split peas, and stir. Drain vegetable stock into the dutch oven, stir repeatedly and bring the entire pot to a boil. Season with more salt pepper (black and white), and lower to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour.

Use an immersion blender and pulse over the course of 30-40 seconds to create a semi-smooth consistency. Return to pot, add bacon, stir and cover and allow to simmer over lowest setting for another 30 minutes.

Garnish with chopped parsley, sea salt, and a drizzle of olive oil. Sure, it looks a bit like baby food, but when you can’t chew, a smoky, nutritious bowl of velvety goodness is quite welcome.