Comfort Foods: Split Pea Soup
Being the mother of 8 (soon to be 9) I have learned how to make food stretch. One of the BEST foods I have discovered to nourish a large family is homemade soups.
I grew up eating canned soup, aside from the occasional stew or homemade chicken noodle (yes I'll be sharing the latter this month.) So when a friend of mine introduced me to the art of bean soups I spent months perfecting my favorites.
Split Pea, like many soups, is a great with broth made from bones. Made a ham for Sunday dinner? Perfect! After you've had your fill of ham and eggs for breakfast turn that ham bone and leftover ham into split pea soup. Our family can eat twice from this recipe. A family of 5 would have lunch for a week.
Ingredients:
- Ham bone
- Leftover ham pieces (if desired)
- Large onion (chopped)
- 2 lbs dried split peas (rinsed)
- 1 1/2 lbs carrots (chopped in small rounds)
- 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp salt
Instructions
- Place Ham in a large stock pot (at least 8 quarts) cover with water and bring to a boil.
- While bringing the Ham to a boil, brown your onion pieces in olive oil over medium heat & chop carrots into small rounds.
- Once Ham has reached a rolling boil add onions, carrots, and salt. Let boil for 30 minutes.
- Now you have a lovely broth. Rinse your peas and add them to the broth (the bone can be left in or taken out - it's up to your preference). After adding peas return water to a simmer and let cook until it reaches your desired consistency.
It took me a while to warm up to the idea of mushy peas so when I first started making split pea soup I boiled until the peas were just barely soft, but now we allow them to get mushy and most of my kids love this soup. It is one of the few soups I suggest on it's own with no additional garnishes etc.
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