Southwestern Split Pea Soup with Turkey Meatballs

About a week ago, I found myself with a container of cooked split pea puree leftover from when I made my homemade enchiladas. I meant to turn it into soup the next night, but other dinners got in the way. Yesterday, I finally used it for soup. I was inspired by a little bit of ground turkey in a container, dry corn tortillas, and mini bell peppers.

As I worked on the soup I wondered if anyone would actually be able to make it. I mean, who has a container of split pea puree in their fridge? Who has just a quarter pound of ground turkey in the fridge? But anyway, if you ever do find yourself with those two ingredients in the fridge, you now have a tasty way to use them up.

I used vegetables that many of you might have in the kitchen -- bell peppers, onions, a little red onion, an jalapeno, and a leek. The leek is optional, I just used it because it was in the veggie bin.

Although I call this "southwestern split pea soup", you'll find that I didn't add a single southwestern spice, like cumin. For the meatballs, I added finely chopped mini bell peppers, half a cup of oats, one egg, and a little salt and pepper. It's a little soggy at first, so I let it sit while the veggies sauteed to give the moisture time to soak into the oats.

The split peas? When I made them, I cooked two cups of dried yellow split peas with a chopped onion, garlic, and oregano. I kept adding water until the split peas broke down and thickened into a puree. After they cooked, they were mixed with some salt and a packet of Goya seasoning. All you'll need is three cups of puree, so why not use the extra to make those enchiladas I talked about, hmm?

Once the vegetables have sauteed for five minutes, I added a carton of chicken broth along with two cups of water. Stir in the split pea puree and bring the soup to a boil. The texture of the soup will be thin with a little substance. I don't like pea soups that are really thick because it's more like baby food than what I feel a proper soup should be. Let there be broth!

As the soup comes to a boil, roll out half tablespoon portions of the turkey and drop into the pot. Lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 25 minutes.

Just prior to serving the soup, stir in ripped day-old corn tortillas. Oh, what's that? You don't just happen to have dry corn tortilla sitting on your counter because you forgot to put them away last night? This will probably work with normal corn tortillas, or just top each bowl with crushed tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream.

All I could think about during the last mile of my run yesterday was coming inside and enjoying a warm bowl of soup! It turned out much better than I expected, considering I didn't do all that much to it. Like I said above, the soup is brothy, but has substance. It'll thicken upon standing because of the corn tortillas, so keep that in mind if you're making this ahead of time.

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Southwestern Split Pea Soup with Turkey Meatballs
Recipe by Christina Provo

Yields 5-8 servings

Ingredients -

1/4 pound ground turkey
2 mini red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 egg, beaten
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 mini red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
32 ounces chicken broth
2 cup water
3 cups yellow split pea puree
3 cups dry corn tortilla strips
Sour cream and sliced green onion for garnis

Directions -

1. Mix together ground turkey with finely chopped bell peppers and red onions. Stir in oatmeal, beaten egg, and a teaspoon of salt. Set aside.


2. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium. When hot, add onion, red onion, bell peppers, jalapeno, and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt; saute for five minutes.


3. Pour in chicken broth and water. Stir in split pea puree and taste for seasonings, adjusting as necessary. Bring to a boil.


4. As soup comes to a boil, roll half tablespoons of turkey mixture into balls and drop into the soup. Reduce heat to a simmer; cover and cook for 20 minutes.


5. When meatballs have cooked, they will have risen to the surface. Stir in corn tortilla strips just before serving. Top bowls with sour cream and green onions. Ole!

Foodbuzz Tastemaker: Mexican Meatballs with Sticky Pace Picante Sauce

Thanks to Foodbuzz Tastemaker program I was given the opportunity to test out Pace's Picante sauce. I chose to use it in a sauce for Mexican style meatballs. These would be great for a party, like the Super Bowl, since they're small and appetizer appropriate. It also made the Foodbuzz Flavor of the Month, and is my entry for Foodbuzz' Pace recipe contest.

The picante sauce is like salsa, only smoother in texture to make cooking with it easier. It blends into sauces or meat better without sacrificing the taste of salsa. It also is truly mild. There may be just a faint hint of heat, but it's not in any way hot. I also felt it was a bit watery, as a puree of tomatoes would be, so you'll want to take that into consideration if you use it for cooking.

You can find Pace products at your local grocery store.

I knew I wanted to use the sauce for a Super Bowl themed recipe, since I'll be submitting it to Facebook's contest, so I just needed to come up with a good way to feature the sauce. And what better way to do that than a sticky picante sauce for meatballs! You could also use this for wings, too, because it's very versatile.

The sauce consists of equal portions of sugar, water, apple cider vinegar and the Pace picante sauce along with chili, garlic, onion powder and salt. Whisk the mixture together and cook at a continuous boil/simmer for 30 minutes until the sauce reduces by about half and takes on the consistency of a thick glaze. This is like a simple barbecue-esque Mexican-style sauce with a back note of spiciness.

For the meatballs, you take ground turkey, finely chopped onion and jalapeno, minced garlic, breadcrumbs, oregano, cumin, and salt, a packet of Goya seasoning, and an egg and mix it all together. These meatballs are light and packed with flavor. I chose to use ground turkey since it has a lighter flavor than ground beef, and is healthier.

Roll the turkey mixture into tablespoons-sized balls, cook on both sides in a skillet with olive oil, and place on a rimmed baking sheet. This can also be done ahead of time, either by mixing the turkey to portion later, or cooking the meatballs and finishing them with the sauce later.

I finish off the meatballs in the oven, covering with half the sauce and baking for 10 minutes, then flipping over and topping with the remaining sauce and cooking another 20 minutes to let the sauce saturate into the meatballs. The result is a glaze that coats the meatballs thoroughly with the flavor infusing throughout.

Alternatively, you could also finish off the meatballs by cooking in the sauce on the stove, or a crock pot if so desired.

Serve with slices of jalapeno and you're ready to party! You could also make some rice to use for a heftier meal.

If you're looking for a healthy party dish with a different flavor, here it is! The sauce is versatile and can be used in many ways, so pick up a bottle of Pace Picante and get cooking.

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Mexican Meatballs with Sticky Pace Picante Sauce
Recipe by Christina Provo

Yield: 5 appetizer portions

ingredients -

1 8 ounce jar Pace Picante Sauce
1 cup water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
2 jalapenos, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Additional jalapenos, sliced, for garnish

directions -

1. In a medium pot, whisk together Pace Picante sauce, water, apple cider vinegar, sugar, chili, garlic, and onion powders and salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce to medium and let simmer continuously for 35 minutes or until reduced by half and thickened to a glaze.


2. In a bowl, thoroughly mix ground turkey with remaining ingredients, except olive oil additional jalapenos. Using a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon, portion into level tablespoons and roll into balls.


3. Preheat oven to 375°. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with olive oil. When ready, add around 15 meatballs and cook for 1-2 minutes or until the bottoms get a nice, golden brown sear. Flip meatballs over and cook for another 30 second to 1 minute, until the bottoms are golden brown. Remove to a rimmed baking sheet and repeat with remaining meatballs.


4. When all meatballs are cooked, spoon half the sauce on top, covering as evenly as possible. Bake for 10 minutes; remove from oven and flip over. Top with remaining sauce and bake for 20 minutes. Spoon onto a serving dish, pouring juice from the sheet on top, and serve with jalapeno slices.