Split Pea Soup With Ham

Total Time: 4 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 lbs ham hocks (about 3)
• 1 -1 1/2 lb ham steak, fat removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 4 bay leaves
• 3 quarts water (12 c)
• 1 lb split peas, rinsed
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Recipe

• 1 1. in a large soup pot, heat olive oil over high heat. add onions, carrots, garlic, and celery and saute until vegetables begin to brown, about 6 minutes.
• 2 2. add ham hocks, chopped ham, bay leaves and water. bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 2 - 2 1/2 hours or until the ham is very tender.
• 3 3. remove the ham hocks and bones. shred meat into bite-sized pieces and return meat to stock. discard bones, fat and gristle.
• 4 4. add split peas and thyme. simmer uncovered 1 hour 20 minutes or until peas dissolve and thicken soup.
• 5 5. remove bay leaves. serve with croutons.
• 6 additional notes: soup may be refrigerated for several days or frozen.
• 7 soup tends to be a bit salty depending on the ham you use. if you have really salty ham you may want to add a potato or two (chopped into bite size pieces) about an hour before the soup is finished.
• 8 i use playtex gloves for handling the hot ham bones and shredding the meat so i don't have to wait for it to cool down.
• 9 my family dislikes onions and celery so i leave the pieces particularly large and remove them when i remove the ham bones.