Here’s my favorite Split Pea Soup with Ham recipe that I like to make once the snow starts to fly here in Connecticut. This hearty soup recipe is terrific as a quick lunch or served as a meal.
My Nana was French Canadian and always had a pot of pea soup cooking on the back burner when I went to visit. Most people think to make a green pea soup, however the French Canadians like to make their homemade soups using yellow split peas.
Since Nana never wrote any of her recipes down and cooked by adding a touch of this, and a tad of that, I’ve adapted this favorite Yankee recipe. Instead of the parsnips, I’ve added some par-boiled potatoes and turned it into a combination pea soup and easy potato soup.
Serve this bowl of fresh soup with a slice of homemade dill bread to warm your family on a cold winter’s night!
Split Pea Soup, Soup, Vegetables, Beans, Potatoes, Ham
Soup, Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch
Source: Yankee Magazine's Favorite New England Recipes (1972)
Ingredients
- 1 pound green split peas
- 3 quarts water
- 1 meaty ham bone (or 1 pound ham steak, diced)
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 1 clove garlic
- parsley and thyme, 1 sprig each
- 2 teaspoons salt
- peppercorns
- bay leaf
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1 parsnip, sliced
- 1 rib celery, sliced
- 1 cup white wine
Instructions
- Soak the split peas overnight and drain. (If you are in a hurry, the peas may be cooked in a pressure cooker in 2 cups of water for 10 minutes.)
- Put the peas in a large pot with the water, the ham bone, and all other ingredients except the carrot, parsnip, celery, and white wine. Simmer on the back of the stove for 2 hours or so, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the bone, cut off the meat and return meat to soup.
- Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are done.
- Sprinkle a pinch of mace atop each serving, and serve with common crackers, saltines, or baking powder biscuits.
© Frugal New England Kitchen
