split pea and ham soup
This thick and rich soup can also be made vegan by replacing the ham stock with a vegetable broth. (When making it this way for my friends that do not eat critters I replace the ham bits with tofu bits that are marinated in a paste of vegetable broth, chipotle powder, and a touch of honey.)
Servings:
6 to 8
Preparation Time:
1.5 hours
Tools
- 4 qt. soup pot with lid
- knife and cutting board
Ingredients
A
- 2 t. olive oil
- 1 large carrot, chopped in 1/4" cubes
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped in 1/4" cubes
- 1 rib celery, chopped in 1/4" cubes
- 1 t. salt
B
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
C
- 8 c. ham stock
D
- 2 c. dry split peas
E
- 1/2 c. cooked ham bits
- 1 T. fish sauce
F
- 1 T. chopped fresh green onion
- 1 T. chopped fresh mint leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
Cooking Instructions
- Pre-heat soup pot over medium-low heat
- Add the oil and wait for it to heat through.
- Add the carrot, onion, celery, and salt. Stir to coat with oil.
- Cover and reduce heat to low. Wait 5 minutes.
- Uncover. Stir. Leave uncovered and wait 5 more minutes.
- Add garlic. Stir. Wait until you can smell the garlic.
- Add stock. Turn heat to high. Wait until it just starts to boil.
- Reduce heat to medium low and add peas.
- Adjust heat to keep soup just under a boil for 30 minutes.
- Stir in ham and fish sauce.
- Turn heat to lowest setting and cover for another 30 minutes.
- Stir in green onion and mint. Salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
I do not puree the soup or allow the pot to boil once I have added the peas because I like the soup to have both a creamy (from the pea starch) and chunky (from the carrots, onion, celery, and ham) texture. This soup freezes and re-heats very well.
portlandpiper – Thu, 2006 – 12 – 28 23:53