Favorite Food Friday: Split Pea Soup

We love soup in our house and one of our favorites is Split Pea. I have tried many different recipes from crock pot ones to stove top ones. And while they are all very similar, I could never find "the one." So I took a good look at different recipes and put this one together. One recipe I tried had like a teaspoon of salt and then combined with my ham hock, it tasted like salt-rock soup. Due to the varying salt levels in ham, I only add a tiny bit of salt to the recipe, but you can always add more or use less when you make it.

what you put in it:

2 cups dried split peas
2 quarts water
1-2 pounds ham hock
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small handful parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 fresh bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced



how you make it:
Bring the peas and water to a boil in a large dutch oven. Boil for two minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for at least one hour.
Add ham hock, onion, celery, parsley, garlic, bay, pepper and salt. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for an hour and a half.

Add carrots, cover and simmer for thirty minutes.

Remove ham hock and bay leaf from soup. Take the meat off of the bone and return meat to the soup. Discard bay leaf. Simmer for five minutes.

Serve with warm crusty bread. Enjoy!

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