1 pint peas, fresh peas, canned peas or dried peas soaked over night
2 ozs. ham, fat and lean
2 tablespoons oil or butter substitute
1 small carrot
A piece of celery
1 small onion
A bay leaf
A spring of parsley
Salt
Pepper

"Chop fine or put through a meat grinder the ham, onion, carrot and celery, add the parsley chopped or clipped fine with scissors, and the bay leaf. Fry all this in the oil until it is golden brown, but not at all scorched. Add one pint of boiling water and the peas. If this cooks away add more water as needed until the peas are tender. Rub the soup through a sieve. Serve this soup garnished with croutons or toast triangles, and send a dish of grated cheese to the table with it to be added according to individual taste."

This recipe was taken from "Practical Italian Recipes, sold for the Benefit of Italian War Orphans," by Julia Lovejoy Cuniberti. It was published in Washington, D.C. in 1918. For the entire copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org. A variety of recipes from this cookbook can also be found on this website.... Photo: Mary Melfi.

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