There’s something soothing about a hot bowl of split pea soup on a cool fall, winter or even spring day. Many a time I’ve come in from snow blowing and warmed up to a hot bowl of split pea soup.
One could spend the day boiling down a ham bone to make the stock but having good quality chicken or vegetable stock on hand and good ham, this soup is easy to make. It only takes about 2 hours for the split peas to be soft enough and the soup thick enough to eat.
First, prep your veggies, ham and split peas. This will only take about 15 minutes.
Chop your mirepoix (onions, carrots, and celery), garlic and ham.
Get the stock of your choice (chicken or veggie) and sort through your split peas to ensure there aren’t any dirt clods or rocks.
Heat a large stockpot and add olive oil, the mirepoix, and some black pepper (several turns of your pepper mill will do). Cook until the onion is translucent.
Then add the garlic, stir a few times, and add the split peas and the stock of your choice. Cover and cook for an hour stirring occasionally.
Next add the ham if you are using it. Stir it in and add more black pepper if desired. Don’t add any salt yet, the stock and ham will probably add enough salt for you. If not using ham, you will want to add some salt for flavor.
Leave pot uncovered and simmer for another 30 to 60 minutes until you reach your desired soup thickness. Stir occasionally and taste once or twice to adjust salt and pepper flavor.
Add a Parmesan Crisps or some chives or a dollop of sour cream.
Enjoy!
Split Pea Soup
Equipment
- 4 - 5 quart stock pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow onion diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh garlic minced
- 1 pound dried split peas
- 8 cups chicken stock or veggie stock
- 3 cups cooked ham diced,
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prep vegetables and ham. Sort through split peas to ensure there are no rocks or dirt clods.
- Add oil to a hot stockpot and add the veggies and a little black pepper. When onion is translucent, add the garlic, and stir a couple times. Add the split peas and stock of your choice.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for an hour stirring occasionally. After an hour, stir in the ham. Taste the soup to determine if you need more pepper. I usually wait until close to the end of the cooking process to determine if it needs salt. If using ham, you probably won’t need salt.
- Leave uncovered and simmer, stirring occasionally for another 45 minutes to an hour to reach your desired thickness. I taste it every now and then and add more pepper if needed.
- Serve as is or top with a peppered or plain Parmesan crisp, sour cream or chives.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Will make about 10 to 12 cups depending on how long you cook it to thicken the soup. I like a pretty thick split pea soup so I generally get about 10 cups.
This soup holds up well in the freezer. I save sour cream containers. They work perfect for putting soup in them and freezing.