Pea & Ham Soup

 

I make this when the Christmas ham has been demolished leaving the big bone with still some meat attached, or when I come across bacon hocks on specials in the shops.  They make such a flavoursome base for a lentils and vegetable soup which is a meal on its own served with some crusty bread.  It is one of those recipes that has plenty of room for variations.  I use onions, carrots and celery, but any root vegetables such as turnips, parsnips, swedes, fennels and kohlrabis would do nicely and add flavour.  You can have the soup thicker, or thinner by adjusting the amount of water used during cooking.  You can blitz the soup in a  food processor to make it smooth, or provide a little textur by leaving some pieces of vegetable intact.  Whatever you do, make sure there are some meltingly sweet ham pieces you can bite into while you enjoy the soup.

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

• 450g / 1lb ham bones or bacon hock
• 400g / 14oz green or yellow split peas, rinsed and drained
• 6-7 cups of water
• 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2-3 sticks celery, roughly chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley for garnishing

METHOD

1. Put the ham bone into a large saucepan together with the onions, carrots, celery and bay leaf.  Add the water and split peas.  Cover and bring to the boil.
2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the ham begins to fall off the bone and the split peas are completely soften.
3. Remove the pan from heat.  Use tongs to remove the ham bone.  Set aside to cool before dislodging any ham pieces still clinging onto the bone.  Shred larger pieces into bite size.    Discard the bone. 
4. Transfer the ham pieces back to the soup.  Heat the soup gently for another few minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with chopped parsley.