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Green Split Pea Soup with Ham

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Split Pea Soup Recipe

Nothing beats a bowl of split pea soup when it's cold outside. This recipe for split pea soup has ham, split peas (of course), and bacon. Add some crusty bread, or a sandwich, and you've got lunch. Make a big pot of soup and you're set for the week. It also freezes well, so you can save some soup for later.

The recipe is adapted from the New York Times cookbook (I've made my own changes). This lens has the list of all the ingredients you'll need to make split pea soup. There are step-by-step instructions to make your soup, with photos of each step (plus the finished soup).

1 pound dried green split peas

2 1/2 quarts cold water

1/4 cup diced bacon

1/2 cup chopped leek

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 small bay leaf

1 pig's knuckle (or use a ham bone)

salt and pepper to taste

Jar of split peas thanks to t-dubisme

Soak the Split Peas

Wash the peas under cold water. Sort through them to remove any stones that may have gotten mixed in. Put in a large pot and add the water. Let stand overnight.

Quick soak method:

If you can't wait that long, there's a little trick that will speed up the process. Put the peas in the pot. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Let the peas boil for two minutes. Then, let them soak for an hour.

Soup Pots

T-fal, Calphalon, and Farberware soup pots and stock pots (8 and 12 quart)

Cook the Bacon and the Vegetables

Cook the bacon in a skillet for five minutes, until browned.

diced bacon

Add the leek and onion, and cook the mixture for another 10 minutes. The vegetables should be soft.

leeks and onions

Add the vegetable/bacon mixture to the pot with the split peas. Add the bay leaf (I like to use a tea ball for this so it's easy to find again), salt and pepper to taste, and the pig's knuckle (or ham bone). Cover and bring to a boil (slowly). Once it comes to a boil, turn down the heat, and let the soup simmer for two hours.

bacon image thanks to joyosity
onions and leeks image thanks to natartbook on morguefile

Soup Cookbooks

Recipes for some of the world's favorite soups (and a few new ones): beef and barley, sweet potato, cucumber, and spinach with feta.

Shred the Ham

Once the pig's knuckle is tender, remove it from the soup. Run it under cool water (so you can handle it), then shred the meat and set it aside. Throw away the bone. Fish out the bay leaf and discard that too.

shredded ham hock

Image thanks to whitney in chicago

More Split Pea Soup Recipes

Split Pea Soup: This is adapted from a Julia Child recipe
Crock Pot Split Pea Soup: A slow-cooked version of split pea soup.
Split Pea Soup with Rosemary: I confess, I never tried it with rosemary. Sounds interesting though.
Vegetarian Split Pea Soup: This has dry mustard, a potato, and balsamic vinegar.

Blend The Split Pea Soup

Using a hand blender, puree the soup. If you don't have a hand blender, use a standard blender. Put the meat back into the soup and adjust seasoning as needed. Why the towel? So the soup doesn't fly in your face and all over the room. If you take the plastic cup out, cover the hole with a towel, and blend, the steam can escape and the soup stays put.

If you've got the hand blender, all you have to do is immerse it in the pot and press the button. It's easier and there's less cleanup.

Image thanks to joelk75

Cuisinart Stick Blender

Cuisinart CSB-76BC SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Hand Blender, Brushed Chrome

Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 06/04/2012)

This blender makes pureeing soup sooo easy. Just stick it in the pot and press the button. It's easy to clean too. The bottom pops off so that you can clean it up without getting the motor wet. You can use it for soup, milk shakes, smoothies, even baby food.

Time to Eat Your Soup

Divide the soup into 6 bowls and serve hot.

Garnishes and Toppings

Garnish with parsley

Top with croutons

Cook some extra bacon, crumble it, and top the soup with it

Add freshly grated parmesan cheese

Image thanks to jodi_k (me!)

Soup Bowls

Fiesta, Libby, and Sango rimmed and plain soup bowls

Soup's on! Here are some pretty soup bowls to put it in. I'm rather partial to the yellow ones.

What's your favorite soup?

Reply

jc91583 Aug 30, 2011 @ 3:01 pm | delete

One thing that I've learned from you is never visit your lens on an empty stomach. Thanks again for the great info.

Reply

Jimmie Aug 2, 2011 @ 5:03 pm | delete

Well, this is a successful lens. It's 100 degrees today in the shade, and reading this lens makes me want SOUP!

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Jodi_k Aug 2, 2011 @ 5:14 pm | delete

LOL. Thank you. I've got some in the freezer, come on over.

Reply

Graceonline Jul 29, 2011 @ 9:31 am | delete

Homemade minestrone is my favorite, hands down, but we love a sausage cabbage soup we make every few weeks almost as well. Then there's old-fashioned potato soup, broccoli-cheese, cauliflower, leftovers soup (made with whatever's in the fridge), butternut squash. We love 'em all! I love how you broke each step of the directions into a separate module. I hope you don't mind if I copy that idea next time I do a recipe lens!

Reply

winlin Jun 3, 2011 @ 4:16 pm | delete

One more fantazzzztic food lens. This is one of my favorites and I have not had it in forever! I'll be trying you recipe soon- I like the blender treatment.
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