Grant and I are spending the day “de-cluttering” – cleaning out closets, making trips to the dump and painting the stairwell. While it is sunny and mild in our neck of North Carolina today, I hear our friends to the north are getting quite the snow storm that is keeping folks homebound.
Thick soups are perfect for those surprise snowy days, when all you want to hear is the hiss of your radiator and blips of soup bubbles working on the stove. I made this soup in an effort to use some leftover smoked Virginia ham … and try out the new immersion blender that my mom gave me! So excited. And it was splendid.
This recipe is from Cooking Light, but I added the meat – seems wrong to have split pea soup without some sort of ham. While I didn’t use a ham hock as is traditional, I think the Virginia ham offered a comparable flavor with plenty of meat (something a ham hock lacks).
I have reduced the amount of rosemary because I found it overpowering – add more if you love it.
Split Pea Soup with Virginia Ham
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 c. dried split peas
- 2 tsp olive oil, divided
- 2 c. chopped onion (one large, I used sweet onion)
- 1 c. diced carrot
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 T minced garlic cloves
- 2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 T tomato paste
- 1 T soy sauce (for salt)
- 4 c. water or chicken stock
- 1/4 c. chopped parsley
- 1 pound diced smoked ham (or substitute)
Wash beans. Cover with water and set aside.
Heat 1 tsp oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onion, carrot and bay leaf, saute 5 min. Add garlic, rosemary, paprika and pepper, stirring, and cook 3 min. Add tomato paste and soy sauce; cook until liquid evaporates, scraping bottom of the pan to deglaze.
Drain peas. Add peas to Dutch oven, along with water/stock. Bring to a boil, adding another cup of water if needed to thin it. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer 1 hour, stirring often. Discard bay leaf. Using a food processor or immersion blender, blend soup until pureed to your desired consistency – I didn’t want baby food.
Return Dutch oven to medium heat and add ham to warm through. Taste for seasonings.
To serve, spoon soup into big bowls and finish with a grating of Parm cheese and a drizzle of good olive oil.
Goes very well with crusty bread and a simple oil-vinegar salad.
Enjoy, friends! xoxo
Seasoned to Taste 