Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Ham it up

I got this recipe for smooth, creamy split pea and ham soup from my cousin's food blog, Table for 7. It calls for a ham hock, which, for me, was the meaty bone left over from the spiral-sliced ham we had the previous night. The soup was really tasty, and it was something different for us. I had never made split-pea soup before, but I'll definitely make it again. And like my cousin pointed out, it's creamy but there's no cream in it. How cool is that?

THE RECIPE:

1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. butter
2 1/2 c. dried split peas
1 ham hock
8 c. chicken broth
6-8 peppercorns or ground pepper to taste
1 large carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
Salt to taste

Saute onion in butter in large pot. Add peas, ham hock, broth and pepper. Bring to boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add carrots and celery, and simmer for 15 minutes more, or until veggies are tender. Remove ham hock. Cut off any remaining ham from bone and add to pot. (I probably got a cup of small chunks.) Discard bone. Using a blender, mix soup in batches until creamy and smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with toasted rolls.


3 comments:

Freebairn Family said...

My mom always made a soup like this with the ham hock leftover from Christmas - I have a ham hock in my fridge that I've been trying not to waste, but not sure I wanted to be that domestic. Thanks for the inspiration! (My mom's isn't creamy, so it was a little less appealing - this sounds better).

Kristy said...

I LOVE this soup. I'm glad you gave it a try. Paul has decided he likes it best if I don't add the ham pieces until after I blend the rest of the soup. He likes the chunks of ham in the creamy soup. Any way you have it is delicious.

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