Split Pea Soup

This is comfort food that’s easy, traditional and quick! The soup is not puréed as my Moms was. It’s still a smooth satisfying meal!

The ham bone adds alot of flavor. The size and type makes a difference. Honey Baked Ham bones are sweet, traditional ham bones are not. You can also use ham hocks instead of a ham bone. Try it!!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large white onion, chopped

4 ribs celery, diced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

2 large bay leaves

10 black peppercorns

1 pound dried split peas, rinsed

4 cups chicken broth or your choice of broth

4 cups water

1 ham bone or 2 ham hocks

1 pound carrots, peeled and diced

2-4 tablespoons dry sherry, optional

Directions

1. Heat up a large Dutch oven, saucepan or slow cooker and then add oil
2. Sauté onion and celery until tender, not browned. Add garlic and sauté another minute
3. Add bay leaves and peppercorns, split peas, broth, water and ham bone. Cover and simmer until ham is falling off bone, about 1-2 hours or longer for slow cookers
4. Remove bone from soup and cut off ham into bite size pieces as you trim away any fat and skin. Return ham to soup
5. If you like, add sherry to the soup for its flavor at this time. Another option is each person can add a splash of sherry to her own bowl at the table when serving since everyone may not like the flavor
6. Add the carrots to the soup and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes
7. Serve piping hot in big bowls.
8. The soup thickens as it cools. Add broth or water to leftovers when reheating if it’s too thick
9. Voila!