Monday, January 14, 2013

Split Pea Soup


This year, I was the proud host of Christmas dinner for my side of the family. We had an awesome spiral ham, potatoes, green beans, and rainbow jello. As is our tradition, I made split pea soup for dinner the next day. My mom makes the most amazing split pea soup. I used her recipe with only a slight change here and there. I froze some of the leftover ham and am making the soup again today (per request of my husband).

Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 carrots, diced
3-4 red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 lb dried split peas
Ham bone leftover from spiral ham
8 cups chicken broth

Directions:
In a large pot, preheat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute onion, garlic, and oregano. When the onion becomes translucent, add carrots, potatoes, split peas, ham bone, and chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 2 hours, or until the ham is falling off of the bone. Stir soup occasionally to avoid having vegetables stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove ham bone from pot and cut remaining meat into chunks, returning the meat to the pot. 

Before serving, remove soup from heat and allow it to thicken. Re-season with salt and pepper and serve.