Yesterday on my YouTube channel I shared a recipe for Split Pea Soup, so today I am going to share it here in print form. This is my kids’ favorite soup, and they are always excited when we have ham because they know that we will have split pea soup sometime in the near future. I love it because it is an easy, quick recipe that can then just cook all day and be ready when we are in the evening. This recipe is exactly what I used yesterday in the video. It makes a really large batch of soup. You can cut everything in half if you don’t want so much soup.
Split Pea Soup
2 – 16 oz packages dry Split Peas
1 leftover Ham Bone
12-16 cups Water (this will vary depending on how thick you prefer your soup. I used 14 cups)
1 large Onion chopped
3-4 Carrots chopped
3-4 Celery Stalks chopped
1/2 to 1 Bell Pepper chopped
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Begin by placing the ham bone in your crock pot along with the split peas and the water, reserving 2 cups for later. Remember that a total of 12 cups will make the soup really thick when it has a chance to cool a little bit, and a total of 16 cups makes it pretty thin even after it’s cooled off. Turn your crockpot to low and cover to allow it to begin heating while you cook your vegetables.
Pour the Olive Oil into a large skillet and begin heating on low while you chop the vegetables. Chop the vegetables and add to the pan. At this point I like to salt the vegetables so they cook a little bit quicker, but if you’re using dry beans instead of peas, I wouldn’t recommend salting anything at this stage. Cook the vegetables until somewhat tender and they start to brown a little bit, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the vegetables are cooked, add your reserved 2 cups of water to the pan to deglaze the pan. Heat the liquid and scrap the sides and bottom of the pan to get all the bits and flavor. Add the vegetables to the crockpot and stir to incorporate.
Continue cooking the soup for approximately 6 hours, stirring occasionally, until the peas have broken down and the leftover ham on the bone is falling off and tender. Before serving, remove the bone and any other pieces of ham that aren’t edible. Add salt and pepper to the soup to taste, if you did a big batch like I did, it takes about 1 Tbsp of salt. My kids love eating this soup (well, any soup) in a bread bowl, but it’s great with a grilled cheese sandwich as well.
Bones have a lot of good stuff in them and using them in soups is a great way to get at all that goodness. They also add a lot of flavor. I hope you have a chance to try this recipe. If you do, I would love to hear any feedback you might have.
Stephanie Richey Art 