Hearty Split Pea Soup Recipe

I do love split pea soup on a cold day but it is also a wonderful soup any day of the year.  There are many ways of making split pea soup.  Some recipes use water some use some kind of broth and some add in some milk to make it creamy.  You can also add in some cut up ham, a ham or pork hock and a variety of vegetables to bring more flavor into the soup.  Below is my recipe for making a hearty split pea soup where I add in chicken broth , vegetable broth, onion, celery, carrots, pork hocks, potatoes, diced ham basil, thyme, a bay leaf and pepper.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of butter
2 medium onions, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
3 carrots, diced
7 cups of chicken broth
3 cups of vegetable broth
1 1/2 pounds of smoked pork hocks
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 teaspoon of dried basil
1 large bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
16 ounces of green split peas
1/2 pound of ham steak, diced
3 medium potatoes, diced

Instructions:

You will want to begin by taking a Dutch Oven and melting the butter in it over medium-high heat.  Next, add the onion, celery and carrots and sauté them until the vegetables begin to soften  This should take about 8 minutes.   Then remove your vegetables and set them aside for use later.  Now add in your chicken broth, vegetable broth, pork hocks, thyme, basil, bay leaf, crushed red pepper flakes and pepper.   When your soup comes to a boil you will want reduce the heat and let the soup come to a simmer over a medium low heat.  Now partially cover your Dutch oven and simmer your soup until your split peas begin to become tender and fall apart.  This should take about 40 minutes.  Then add in your vegetables that you set aside, your diced ham and your diced potatoes and cook until your potatoes are tender and your split peas are falling apart.  This should take another 30 minutes.  You will need to stir your soup periodically during this time so it does not burn.

When your soup is done cooking you should remove your bay leaf and your pork hocks.  Now place the pork hocks in bowl and let them cool for about 5 minutes.  Reduce your heat to low so that your soup no longer simmers.  You just want your soup to keep nice and hot at this time.  When your ham hocks are cool enough to handle you will want to cut off the meat from the ham hocks, dice your meat and then place your meat back into your split pea soup.  You will now want to give your split pea soup a taste and then adjust your seasonings, if needed.  Your soup is now ready to serve.