A while back, someone here was asking about my split pea soup recipe and I never got around to it....well, here it is! Enjoy! Its very easy and great comfort food for this time of year...
Ingredients:
1 pound bag of dried peas
1 onion, minced or diced
1 good handful of baby carrots, minced or diced
1 (or 2 depending on the size of the clove) garlic clove, minced
1 small potato, cut into half-inch squares
1 slice of deli ham, sliced about a half inch thick at the deli and then diced at home to half inch cubes
6 cups of water and/or chicken broth. I use two cans of broth and two cups of water, but you can use any amount of either, 6 cups of broth, 6 cups of water or whatever your taste is...as long as it equals 6 cups of liquid.
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Okay...I like my carrots and onions to practically disappear, so I mince them in my food processor. If you like chunks, dice them. Put them in your soup pot with the minced garlic and and cut-up potato, salt and pepper and ham along with the olive oil. Sautee them for about five minutes. Add the water and/or chicken broth and the peas. Bring to a boil, then give it one good stirring before lowering the heat to a low simmer and let it cook, with a lid on, for about 45 mins or until the peas implode on themselves and turn to mush. I use a potato masher to mash things up a bit if I need to.
It's SOUP!! Enjoy!!
PS...the nice thing about soup is that you can increase or decrease ingredients to taste. For instance, if you love garlic, add more...like more onions...add more, like less, add a half onion instead of a whole one. Experiment!! That's what's fun about soup!!
