Perfect Split Pea 'n Ham Soup

Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 5
• 3 cups split peas (green, yellow, or a mixture)
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 5 medium garlic cloves, crushed (or use 4 tsp. chopped from a jar)
• 2 -3 carrots, peeled and chopped (or chop 15-20 baby carrots)
• 2 celery ribs, sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 10 cups chicken broth (or sub. up to half with water)
• 1 slice baked ham (sold in vacuum pack as "ham steak," or leftover if you have it)
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• 1 pinch thyme (optional)

Recipe

• 1 rinse peas well in a strainer or colander.
• 2 melt the butter in a large dutch oven or soup pot, and saute onions, carrots and celery over medium heat until lightly browned. sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt over all.
• 3 add the crushed garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• 4 keeping heat the same, add the broth and peas. scrape bottom of pan to loosen any browned bits and stir to mix everything up.
• 5 trim all visible fat from the ham and add ham to the pot. it's fine if it breaks into a few chunks, but they need to be large enough to pick out later.
• 6 when soup comes to a light boil, use a wad of paper towels to dab any whitish foam off the surface.
• 7 lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 2-3 hours. about an hour in, use tongs to pull out all the ham and either chop into bite-sized pieces or snip with kitchen scissors right over the pot. now is also a great time to taste for seasoning; you may need to add nothing at all, but see ingredients for ideas.
• 8 if you like, blend some or all of the soup with a regular blender (more trouble) or immersion blender (zero trouble).