This my favourite meal for maximum taste/cost ratio. You need
- Split green peas (2 cups)
- Pumpkin or sweet potato (around 300g)
- Frozen peas (cup or two)
- Two large onions
- A head of garlic
- 5–10 Cardamom pods
Preparation is easy but cooking time will take a little longer.
Fry, in butter if your morals allow it, the onions and some chopped garlic (say three or four cloves) until tasty. Optional: add a splash or two of sherry or white wine.
Add the split peas and fry quickly then add six cups of boiling water and the cardamom pods. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for however long it takes to get the soup edible.
Meanwhile, cut up the pumpkin into bite-sized pieces and roast (i.e., coat with olive oil and lightly salt) with the remaining garlic cloves. (Remove excess paper from the garlic cloves but do not remove from their shells.)
When the pumpkin is soft, add it to the pea soup.
When the garlic is mushy, smash into a paste, removing their skin, and stir well through the soup. The readiness times for the garlic and pumpkin may or may not align.
Finally add frozen peas and cook for a few minutes until they pop in your mouth. You may want to fish out the cardamom if you don't like flavour bombs in your soup.
Serve with lemon pepper, if you like, and—of course—buttered crusty bread. (Serves six, probably.)