Split Pea Soup & Ham

Tish's Note:

Winter evening and split pea soup are like two peas...well you get the reference. I saw a similar recipe on Emeril's show and embellished.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups yellow onions, chopped
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb dried split peas, picked over and rinsed
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• 1 ham steak, cut into 1 inch pieces
• hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, heat the oil.
2. Add the onions.
3. Season with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper.
4. Saute for 2 minutes.
5. Add the garlic, bay leaf, and split peas and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
6. Add the broth and ham.
7. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour or more, until the peas are tender.
8. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
9. Remove the bay leaf and discard.
10. Add the milk and, using a hand-held blender or potato masher, process until smooth.
11. Add the hot sauce if desired and serve hot.

Reviews

[Jo Anne]

Made this soup last night for dinner using a lb. or so of leftover ham from Christmas. It was very good. I cut back on the amount of liquid and didn't process the soup with a blender because I like a thick soup. Will cut back on the onions next time. The crushed red pepper (just a little!) gives it a little zip that I like. DH and I eat simple soup and bread suppers a lot in the winter and this one hit the spot!

[celvikas tombro]

The only change to this recipe was I added chopped leeks, mainly because they were there and I had to use them up. My husband said it was the best pea soup he ever had.

[JOY1998]

I used a ham bone and leftover chopped ham meat. I also added a couple of potatoes. I used the milk and other ingredients the recipe called for. This is the first time making split pea soup and really found this to be an easy recipe that produced an absolutely flavorful soup which I will definitely make again. Excellent recipe and instructions. Thank you for posting.