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1
The day before making this soup, place a cut-up lemon inside your chicken and boil for just over 1 hour (for a 1.35 kg/3 pounder), adding a peeled onion and carrot, black peppercorns and sea salt to the water.
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2
Strain off the broth and refrigerate it overnight.
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3
Soak the split peas either overnight or for several hours, then boil them in plenty of unsalted water for 30 minutes to 1 hour until they are soft.
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4
The first 10 minutes of boiling should always be fast and uncovered; the rest may be a steady simmer with the lid on.
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5
Meanwhile, peel the onions and turnips, and scrape the carrots and fennel; chop them all into small dice and soften them for 15 minutes in olive oil in a heavy, covered pan.
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6
Crush the garlic in a mortar with a little sea salt and add it to the vegetables with the tomatoes and the thyme or marjoram, raising the heat a little and cooking uncovered for 5 to 20 minutes while breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
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7
Then add the drained split peas, the skimmed stock and the washed and torn-up sorrel leaves.
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8
(Spinach will do, but it will not contribute such an interestingly acidic flavour.)
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9
Bring to the boil, simmer for 30 minutes, cool and serve.
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10
Add more salt ift he split peas seem to demand it, but do not liquidize the soup unless you want their taste to be dominant.
