From Super Food Ideas July 2008. Though I have listed chicken stock as per recipe I used a homemade ham stock. This bought back memories of New Years Eve parties that my parents used to have and there was always pots of mushy peas served. UPDATE- after making this several times now I have found the cooking time will vary between 25 to 45 minutes - I can only put it down to the split peas and that they may vary from packet to packet.
05Remove from heat and process half the soup in a blender or use a stick blender till smooth or do what I did and put the stick blender straight into the pot and process to your liking.
06Return to pot or if you just used the stick blender, stir in lemon juice and cook for 3 minutes or until heated through.
07While soup was cooking in the first 25 minutes, heat a frying pan over medium high heat and add bacon and cook till crisp or use recipe #208501 .
08Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel and drain.
09Crumble into pieces.
10Ladle soup into bowls and top with crumbled bacon and paprika and serve with a roll.