European Style Dill, Pea and Carrot Soup

pb's notes: see notes at bottom for pressure cooker modifications. original directions: This is a nice change from ham-based pea soups. Serve with country bread and butter. Serve with cooked noodles (any shape or size) - optional. Bring peas and water to a boil. Skim off foam and reduce heat to simmer and add onions, carrots, celery, parsley, dill, celery seed, salt, pepper. Cook until p[eas are softened (about 45 minutes) then add potato cubes and continue cooking over low to medium heat until peas are completely dissolved (approximately 1 1/2 hours). Stir to blend soup. Adjust seasonings, stir in margarine, adding more salt, pepper and dill to taste. Reheat on very low heat. Freezes well. pb's notes: Tried this first using yellow split peas. Was quite good, but it took my soup a much longer time to get done. Decided to try it again adapting the recipe to the pressure cooker. This is what I did: Dumped everything into the pressure cooker, omitting the margarine, but adding 3 tablespoons olive oil to minimize sputtering and foaming. Pressure cooked on high for 10 minutes. Allowed cooker to reduce pressure naturally. I like a stronger dill flavor, so I added another tablespoon of dried dill.

This is a great soup. It pressure cooked well, cutting the preparation time down tremendiously. Give this one a