Description
This Caribbean Red Peas Soup is a staple when it comes to rich stews and cozy soups with West Indian flair. A warming pot that’s full of tender peas (beans), succulent pigtails, herbs + aromatics, carrot, yam, and cornmeal dumplings all simmered in a decadent coconut-infused broth. Red peas soup is so incredibly delicious, easy to make, and chock-full of flavor, it’s truly unlike any other soup!
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight & drained
- 2 lbs salted pigtails, soaked overnight & drained
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 6 scallions, chopped
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste (or 6 cloves of garlic, finely minced)
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 cups chicken broth or stock
- 6 cups water, divided
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, left whole- do not slice!
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 1 medium yam or sweet potato, peeled & chopped into quarters
For the dumplings:
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2/3 cup water
Instructions
- Soak the peas & pigtails. Prep the beans and pigtails by soaking them in separate bowls in cool water overnight (about 8 hours), and then drain. Then set them aside until called for in the recipe.
- Sauté the aromatics. In a large, heavy-bottomed dutch oven or stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. When sizzling, add the onion, bell pepper, scallions, and thyme sprigs. Sauté the veggies and aromatics, stirring often, until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Then add the garlic and continue cooking until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the ground allspice and stir into the aromatic mixture, toasting up the spice for about 1 minute.
- Simmer the peas & pigtails. Add the drained beans into the pot along with the pigtails, tossing to combine. Cover the mixture with the chicken broth/stock and 4 cups of water, gently stirring to fully combine. Add the scotch bonnet pepper to the top of the mixture, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Cook for 1 hour and 25 minutes- until the peas (beans) and pigtails are nice and tender, and the mixture is super fragrant.
- Prep the dumplings. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt- whisking the mixture well to combine. Then pour in the water and use your hands (fitted with disposable gloves, if desired) to mix the dough together until just combined. Divide the dough into 2-inch balls or so, and then roll each small ball in the palm of your hands into a little log/small baton (as pictured in the blog post). Repeat the process until all dumplings have been formed and set aside.
- Build the red peas soup. Back to the soup, add in the remaining 2 cups of water and coconut milk- stirring to combine. Drop and scatter the dumplings into the pot. Then add the chopped carrots and yam/sweet potato. Gently stir the mixture until briefly combined. Cover the pot and continue cooking the soup for another 30 minutes to cook up the dumplings and provisions (carrots/yam/sweet potato) until soft and tender.
- Serve. Discard the scotch bonnet pepper and thyme sprigs. Serve this red peas soup immediately dividing the soup evenly into serving bowls. Enjoy!
Notes
- Gluten-free needs? Swap the all-purpose flour for any gluten-free flour as a 1:1 ratio (we love Bob’s Red Mill gf flour!).
- Please read blog post in its entirety for more tips + tricks.