Black-Eyed Pea Soup

Happy New Year!  We kicked off 2011 with some traditional black-eyed peas crock-pot style.  They were so yummy, we gobbled them up before I could get a picture of the finished product.  I see no reason to wait until next year to make this again!




1 pound dried black eyed peas
1 pound spicy sausage, sliced
6 cups chicken broth
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
tabasco sauce, optional


Soak you beans overnight.  Drain and pick out the broken and discolored beans in the morning.


Dump the veggies into the crock pot with your pre-soaked beans.  Add sliced sausage.  Pour in broth and stir in Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.


Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for about 6.  Before serving, use a stick blender to smash up about 1 cup of beans, or scoop out 1 cup of beans and blend them with a bit of the broth in a blender, then add back to the soup.  Don't blend too much - just enough to get the broth thicker and creamy-looking.


Ladle into bowls and add Tabasco sauce to taste.