Split Pea Soup | Duryee.net

This recipe is from Jennifer at CarlsbadCRAVINGS.

I made this and it's awesome, let me tell you. I didn't have ham on a bone, but I had just about 2 pounds of sliced ham left over from Christmas dinner. So, what I did first was make some bacon. I used 8 slices of thick bacon which weighed in at about 1/2 pound. I saved about 2 or 3 Tablespoons of the drippings from the bacon and added them to the soup, having missed the note Jennifer wrote about searing the onion - I could have done that in the bacon fat. No worries, it turned out great! And of course, the 8 slices of bacon also made their way into the soup. Basically, the 50-minute step (No. 4 below) doesn't need to be included if you're not doing ham on the bone as part of the soup. I also doubled the measurements of all the spices added, so it was 1 Tsp. each of curry powder, dried parsley, dried thyme, and ground mustard. I also used 4 bay leaves and lots more than 1/4 Tsp of pepper. On top of it all, I added 1 Tsp of Wright's Liquid Smoke. That was a great batch of soup!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 Lb bacon, sliced and fried, reserve 2 or 3 Tbs of fat from cooking
1 16 oz. bag dried split peas, rinsed, picked over for debris
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp EACH yellow curry powder, dried parsley, dried thyme, ground mustard, cumin, and oregano (Double these, and you can go higher still on the cumin and oregano. 😁 )
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 meaty ham bone (with 2 cups of meat on the bone for later), or just sliced ham, no bone
6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
3 ribs celery, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Garnish with chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

Note: The split peas do not need to be soaked for this recipe.
Sauté aromatics: Melt butter in olive oil in a large Dutch oven/soup pot over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until softened, 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds.
Add split peas and ham: Add split peas, bay leaves and seasonings and give them a stir. Nestle in the ham bone. Pour the chicken broth and water over top. If you don't have a ham bone and are just using sliced ham, don't add the ham yet. Wait until the veggies have been cooked in step 6 below.
Simmer: Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Simmer, covered, for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally, and replacing the lid. If you're not using a ham hock, skip this step. Just add the diced ham and bacon, along with the bacon fat and skip removing the ham in the next step.
Remove ham and simmer: Remove ham from soup to a cutting board. Add the celery, carrots, and potatoes to the soup. Simmer, covered, for an additional 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender, and peas have broken down to your liking. Meanwhile:
Chop ham: Cut the ham off the bone and cut it into pieces (don’t add back to the soup yet). Once the veggies are tender, stir 2 cups diced ham into the soup.
Adjust to taste: The soup will thicken significantly as it sits, as the peas continue to break down from residual heat, so be prepared to add additional broth or water to thin to the desired consistency. Season the soup with salt and pepper and a Tsp of liquid smoke to taste. Garnish servings with parsley if desired.

Notes

Split peas: They are sold by the bag located near the grains and lentils at your grocery store. They come in green or yellow, but I prefer green for this recipe. Green tends to be sweeter and yellow tends to be earthier.
Storage: Let the Split Pea and Ham Soup cool to room temperature, then cover and store in your Dutch oven or transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 3 days. The soup can also be frozen for up to 3 months. The soup will thicken significantly but is easy to thin to the desired consistency with water or broth when reheating.

Ham Options

Split Pea Soup is typically made with a ham bone (detailed below, used in the recipe) but here are a few more options:

Ham Bone: This can come from any leftover ham(spiral, whole bone-in, etc.) cooked for the holidays, OR, purchase one directly from the butcher counter at your grocery store or neighborhood butcher. If possible, ask them to leave about 2 cups of meat on the bone.
Smoked Ham Hock: If you want to maintain the smoky flavor without using a ham bone, a smoked ham hock (also known as a pork knuckle) can be a flavorful substitute. It doesn’t have the meat, so you’ll want to combine it with chopped ham.
Ham Steak: These are thick slices of cooked ham cut from a whole ham roast. They can be found packaged in the refrigerated meat section near the bacon or sliced from the butcher counter. Once home, just chop them into chunks. You won’t have all the deep flavor from the bone so adjust seasonings (salt, etc.) to taste or combine it with ham hock or 4 raw bacon strips that simmer with the soup (then removed, see below).
Bacon+ ham steak: Swap the ham bone in the recipe for 4 ounces thick cut bacon (left whole) and 1 pound ham steak, cut into quarters. Simmer with the split peas for 45 minutes. Remove the ham steaks, add the carrots and celery and cook until tender per recipe. Remove the bacon slices (discard), shred and add the ham back to the soup.
Bacon: Cook 8 strips thick-cut bacon until crisp. Remove from the pot and leave 2-3 tablespoons bacon drippings to use to sauté the onions instead of butter. Cook and crumble the bacon to cook with the soup, saving a about ¼ to top the soup with.
Leftover Ham: If you have leftover ham without the bone from a previous meal, chop it into pieces and use it in your split pea soup. It’s a great way to repurpose leftovers. Combine it with the bacon option or enjoy alone, adjusting seasonings to taste.
Other protein: Smoked turkey leg is a great alternative to ham. Smoked sausages, such as kielbasa or smoked turkey sausage, can also add richness and depth to the soup.