Sweden

Ärtsoppa (Pea Soup)

One of the most Swedish recipes, according to me, is the yellow pea soup. It is not necessarily famous outside of Sweden, compared to other Swedish dishes such as meatballs, but it is still such a quintessential dish. 

Growing up in Sweden, this was one of my favourite dishes as a child. I absolutely loved when my parents made it. It takes quite a while to prepare though, seeing that one has to soak the peas for long. Usually I start soaking them 24 hours in advance and change the water a couple of times in between. Bear in mind that the original recipe contains pork, but I do not eat meat and thus made this recipe vegetarian.

Ingredients

500 grams of dried yellow peas

1-2 tbsp fresh ginger

2 yellow onions

1-2 tsp thyme

1-2 tsp marjoram

1 litre of vegetable bouillon

Salt and pepper to taste

Serve with mustard and carrots for decorations, if you want.

Instructions

Soak the peas for 24 hours and change the water a couple of times during those hours. Proceed to boil them with salted water and remove the foam which come to the surface. Chop the onions and prepare the ginger. Add it to the soup together with the herbs, pepper and bouillon. Boil the peas until they are soft (really soft!). This can take several hours, so please have patience. When the soup taste well, the peas has soften and it has the overall right consistency it is done. Serve together with mustard!

Pyttipanna

Pyttipanna, just like pea soup, was one of my favourite dishes as a child. It is so easy to make (you use what you have at home) and feels so much like home. This dish, just like much of Swedish food, is originally made with meat. Since I do not eat meat, I switched some of the ingredients out.

Ingredients

Potatoes

Vegetarian sausage

Yellow onion

Carrots

Oil

Salt and pepper

Serve with fried egg, pickled beetroot and ketchup.

Instructions

Peel the potatoes and the carrots (and other root vegetables you might want to add). Chop the potatoes, carrots, sausage and onion and either fry them in a pan och in the oven with oil, salt and pepper. I usually prepare this dish in the oven, because it is easier. When everything is cooked properly, fry on egg per plate. Serve the pyttipanna with egg, pickled beetroot and ketchup.