It includes surprise ingredients that make the bowl extra hearty and delicious.

Published on February 5, 2026

Credit:

Carson Downing / Food Styling: Annie Probst

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An unassuming bowl, this updated version of the diner classic from Alison Roman's Something from Nothing skips the pressure cooker or multiday soak for a modernized, time-saving method. Rutabaga joins the usual suspects of pork (bacon, pancetta, or guanciale), split peas, and broth. The turnip-cabbage hybrid delivers a subtly sweet flavor and natural starches for thickening the soup. This very classic split pea soup will keep in your fridge for at least 5 days. It also freezes well (minus the toppings, of course).

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Ingredients

  • 8 to 10 oz. bacon, pancetta, or guanciale, chopped

  • 1 medium yellow onion, 2 large shallots, or 1 large leek (8 oz.), finely chopped (1 cup)

  • 5 garlic cloves (4 thinly sliced, 1 finely grated)

  • 1 rutabaga or 2 large waxy potatoes, sweet potatoes, or carrots (8 oz.), peeled and chopped

  • 8 cups vegetable or chicken broth

  • 1 lb. dry yellow or green split peas (2 1/4 cups)

  • 1 fresh or dried bay leaf or 2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)

  • 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley

  • 1 lemon, halved for squeezing over

Directions

  1. Place whatever pork product you’re using in a large pot and cook over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is crisped and there is a generous pool of fat inside your pot, 6 to 10 minutes. Leaving all the fat behind, remove the meaty bits with a slotted spoon and set them aside on a paper towel-lined plate.

  2. Add the onion and sliced garlic to the fat and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender and lightly browned at the edges, 5 to 7 minutes.

  3. Add the rutabaga and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is deeply browned, 8 to 10 minutes. (If you use potatoes instead of rutabaga, cook, stirring, 4 to 5 minutes.)

  4. Add the broth, split peas, and either a bay leaf or a few sprigs of thyme, if you’ve got it. Bring to a strong simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and gently simmer 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the rutabaga and split peas are so tender, they’re practically falling apart, 45 to 60 minutes. At this stage, I like to use a wooden spoon to gently smash some of the rutabaga and peas against the side of the pot to create a slightly thicker and creamier soup. If you are finding it still too soupy (or the veggies too difficult to smash against the side of the pot), keep simmering.

  5. Add the grated garlic, stir, and season the soup with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with crispy pork, parsley, a drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon. Serves 4.

Credits

Recipes excerpted from the book Something from Nothing: A Cookbook by Alison Roman. Copyright © 2025 by Alison Roman. Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.