Beyond the BabySteps: Legumes: Split Peas

In BabyStep 6: Legumes we give you a list of possible legumes to store with a recommended amount of each one. One of the things we decided early on in our food storage adventures was that we would only store foods that we knew how to cook with and that our family would eat. While we both quickly learned to enjoy many types of dry beans, split peas were one variety of legume which we were a little unsure of … until Julie discovered an amazing split pea soup recipe. She will be sharing this recipe soon so make sure to check back! In the meantime, here is a little more information about split peas if you are interested in learning more about them.

What are split peas?
Split peas are the dried peeled and split seeds of Pisum sativum. Even though the peas are round when harvested and dried, they are mechanically split after they are peeled. This helps decrease the cooking time.

What are the varieties of split peas?
There are two varities of split peas, yellow and green. Yellow split peas have a milder flavor and are good to use in dishes where you want to hide the richer, green pea flavor.

What is the shelf life of split peas?
If stored in the regular plastic bags that most legumes come from the grocery store in, the shelf life is only about 1 year. But if properly stored in an airtight sealed container with oxygen absorbers, the shelf-life can extend to ten years or more.

How do you cook split peas?
Split peas do not need to be pre-soaked like other dry legumes. You simply throw them into the soup or stew you are making and they will cook in a reasonable amount of time. The 12 bean soup Jodi posted earlier this week is a great one to throw some split peas into! Split peas may also be ground into pea flour to use as the basis for some pea soup recipes.