It is nice to have a captive audience
My wife is pregnant with our first child, a girl. Needless to say I’m thrilled. Currently I have a 4 year old stepson who really is an exceptional child in every way and I love him as my own. There is no one I would rather fill the roll of my sous chef and assistant master gardener on a daily basis. However there will be something indescribable about having a child that shares my chromosomes and calls me daddy.
I never really thought I would be a dad. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be a father, but short of opening up my own orphanage as a tax shelter I didn’t really picture that happening in my life. Then two and a half years ago I met my beautiful wife and everything changed. In no time at all I went from ‘living la vida bachelor’ to a wife, kids, house and the obligatory picketed fence.
She has been pregnant for a little over six months, going on forever. During that time I’ve really had to wonder how anyone ever had a successful pregnancy prior to all of these modern day fetus development warnings: Don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t eat seafood, don’t eat lunch meat, don’t eat soft cheeses, and take a daily vitamin. All that is left to eat is raw vegetables… unless you live in France in which case pregnant women are advised against eating those too.
I laugh, but I totally buy into all those warnings. Yes, I am that husband. I study up on everything to do and not do during pregnancy and I act as my wife’s unofficial (and mostly unwanted) pregnancy coach. Who doesn’t want someone hovering over their shoulder 24 hours a day making sure they are creating the optimal developmental environment for the Fox Valley Foodette?
So when my pregnant wife tells me she is hungry for my homemade split pea soup, I make her split pea soup.
Homemade Split Pea Soup Recipe
When making a homemade split pea soup you need a ham bone. So this is the perfect post-holiday recipe since many of us gorged on ham just a few days ago.
You also need peas. For this recipe you will want dried peas in a bag (here is an example). Don’t buy canned peas… ever really. They are just abhorrent. As a matter of fact, pretty much all canned vegetables fall into that category. The only time I ever had any use for canned vegetables was as a child I would raid them from my mother’s cupboard in order to donate them to food drives so I wouldn’t have to eat them! If you ever need a side dish, get frozen veggies out of the freezer department, they are similar in price to the canned veggies but taste a million times fresher.
OK, so back to the recipe.
Gather the following ingredients for Homemade Split Pea Soup:
1 lb dried green split peas
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large leek, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme
4 allspice berries
2 well-rinsed ham hocks
Salt and Pepper
1 lb ham, diced
Oil
Pick over the peas and remove any stones. Wash and drain peas. Place in a soup pot with the vegetables, herbs, ham hocks and 2 ½ quarts of water. Bring to a simmer. Skim the scum off the top of the soup for several minutes, until the scum ceases to rise. Cover loosely and simmer about 1 ½ hours, or until peas are tender, stirring occasionally in case they stick to the bottom of the pan.
Remove the ham hocks from the soup. Purée the soup with a blender until desired consistency. An immersion blender works great for this; if you are using a regular blender, take care to work in batches and only fill the blender halfway if the soup is still hot, and hold down the lid while blending. If you want an exceptionally smooth soup, pass the purée through a sieve.
Return the purée to the pot and heat to serve. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add oil to a non-stick pan on medium high heat. Place diced ham, in batched if necessary, and sauté until ham forms a brown crust. Add back into soup pot and serve.
You can add sour cream, chopped green onions, and/or croutons as garnishes.
As always, if you like my homemade split pea soup recipe please consider sharing it on Pinterest or following me on Facebook to stay on top of all of the latest Fox Valley Foodie posts!
Homemade Split Pea Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried green split peas
- 1 onion peeled and chopped
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 1 large leek chopped
- 1 large carrot chopped
- 1 clove large of garlic minced
- 2 leaves bay
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 4 allspice berries
- 2 well-rinsed ham hocks
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 lb ham diced
- Oil
Instructions
- Pick over the peas and remove any stones.
- Wash and drain peas.
- Place in a soup pot with the vegetables, herbs, ham hocks and 2 ½ quarts of water.
- Bring to a simmer.
- Skim the scum off the top of the soup for several minutes, until the scum ceases to rise.
- Cover loosely and simmer about 1 ½ hours, or until peas are tender, stirring occasionally in case they stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Remove the ham hocks from the soup.
- Purée the soup with a blender until desired consistency. An immersion blender works great for this; if you are using a regular blender, take care to work in batches and only fill the blender halfway if the soup is still hot, and hold down the lid while blending. If you want an exceptionally smooth soup, pass the purée through a sieve.
- Return the purée to the pot and heat to serve. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add oil to a non-stick pan on medium high heat. Place diced ham, in batched if necessary, and sauté until ham forms a brown crust. Add back into soup pot and serve.
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