Split Pea Soup with Ham

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil or butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb dried green split peas, rinsed
• 1 smoked ham hock (or 1 1/2 cups diced ham)
• 8 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• salt and black pepper

Steps

1. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the onion, carrots and celery until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minute.
2. Add the split peas, ham hock, water, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer.
3. Cook partly covered, stirring now and then so nothing sticks, until the peas have broken down, 60 to 75 minutes.
4. Lift out the ham hock. When cool enough, pull the meat from the bone, chop it, and stir it back in.
5. Remove the bay leaf. Season with pepper and salt only after tasting, since the ham adds salt.

TipFor a smoother soup, blend half of it with an immersion blender before adding the ham back.