The Ham
In our house, split pea soup is a great use for Thanksgiving Day leftovers. To me, with my vegetable forward style, roasting up a whole turkey is plenty of animal protein for a Thanksgiving feast. But there are several in my family who really want some smoked ham on the table. The fact that I can freeze up some leftover ham to make split pea soup on cold days in the coming winter months is enough to sway me to provide both. I tightly wrap up and freeze individual six-ounce portions. Six ounces of smoked ham is the perfect amount for a pot of split pea soup.
The Secret
There are plenty of recipes in cookbooks and on the internet which offer different ratios of ingredients, seasoning combinations, secret ingredients, and other variations. There is one secret that appears in a few that I think is of the utmost importance: Add the split peas to the pot in two stages. As a split pea cooks, it transforms from rock hard, to crunchy, to tender-firm, to tender-soft, to mush. Adding the split peas in two stages, so half of them turn to mush while the other half only cook to the tender-firm or tender-soft stage. Those that cook to mush provide the thick body that a split pea soup should have. Those that only cook to tender-firm or tender-soft (your preference), provide texture and the knowledge that you are indeed eating split peas. It takes about 40 minutes for split peas to cook to tender soft. So, it may take up to 80 minutes of cook time for the full batch of soup, but most of this time is low attention simmering.
The Root Vegetables
Most split pea soup recipes specify the use of carrots and potatoes. This is indeed a delicious combination. But many other root vegetables can be substituted. Parsnips, turnips, radishes and rutabagas all work well. Choose two are three of your favorites, or what you have on hand. About one pound total for each pot of soup.
Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion (6-8 oz) diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb root vegetables see note
- 6 oz smoked ham cubed
- 1 lb split green peas
- 2 quarts stock (chicken or vegetable) or water
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Optionally peel the potatoes and carrots. If you don't peel them, give them a good scrub. Chop them into a 3/4" dice.
- Chop the ham into a smaller dice, about 1/2"
- In a soup pot, saute the onions in the olive oil with a teaspoon of salt. Use enough olive oil to make the onions glisten.
- When the onions are soft and translucent, add the garlic and oregano and several cranks of black pepper from the pepper grinder. Saute another minute or two.
- Add the diced root vegetables along with half of the split peas and the stock. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer. Continue to simmer, uncovered.
- Stir occasionally, using a wooden spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen anything that tries to stick.
- After 40 minutes, taste for seasoning. You used some salt with the onions, and the ham and stock can provide varying levels of salt. The broth should taste well seasoned at this point. Add salt as necessary. When salted to taste, add the remaining half pound of split peas.
- Continue to stir occasionally. The scraping of the bottom of the pan becomes more important as the soup thickens. If it seems that things have gotten away from you, don't panic. Remove the pot from heat and let it sit for a minute or two. Often the liquid above the crusty layer will loosen it up in the absence of heat and allow you to scrape it up and work into the soup.
- After another 40 minutes, the first batch of split peas should have disintegrated into a thick broth and the second batch have cooked to tender-firm. Taste for texture and seasoning. Make final adjustments to seasoning, and serve when the texture is to your liking.
Notes
- Carrots and potatoes are the most common root vegetables to use in a split pea soup, but there are many other options. Parsnips, turnips, rutabaga, and radishes are great options. Choose two are three of your favorites.
