split pea soup with ham (or not)

When you start with the 3 most vital vegetables in any cook’s pantry, one thing is guaranteed to be in every pot – flavour, flavour and more flavour – and not just any flavour – deep, rich, complex, can’t-get-it-any-other-way flavour! And that’s what pretty much happens when the first things on your board are onions, carrots & celery! And of the 100’s of possible outcomes, it’s easy to see how entire cultures have built their national cuisines atop these 3 simple ingredients – and one of the very first outcomes was split pea soup, which has been doled out in Europe for centuries, 100’s of them – let’s just say the pyramid builders scarfed it back on their lunch breaks! Fast forward a few 1000 years and we’re still scarfing it back – with or without the ham, and there’s as many variations as you can imagine – I’ve got you started with a few switch-ups below.

Split pea soup is a classic, gotten more exposure as soup-of-the-day than the Kardashians have in “reality”, and thankfully, is a heckuva’ lot easier to digest! So start creating flavour like you know what you’re doing – because you do! Trust the zillions of belly’s that’ve come before and kept split pea soup on the menu since man was hunkered down over a pile of bricks, throwing a few pyramids together!

click here to jump down to the split pea soup with ham (or not) recipe

1. Get the holy trinity diced up.

2. Get them in a hot pot with a little olive oil.

3. Measure your split peas and get your bay leaves ready – the only aromatic at this classic party!

4. Give your peas a rinse.

5. Get your stock ready, I use bouillon paste.

6. And that involves water.

7. Stir in the bouillon – and you’ve now got stock!

8. Add the rinsed split peas to the pot.

9. Then the stock.

10. Add the precious bay leaves and give it a good stir.

11. On goes the lid.

12. Now I’m using a pressure cooker and that’s for 12 minutes and then I put it on to slow cook for a couple of hours which seems to bring some real love to the pot.

13. And this is what you’ll find before you give it a stir.

14. If you’re using ham or anything else for that matter, dice it up – if not, it’s ready to go.

15. Stir in the ham.

16. And it’s ready to serve.

17. Enjoy!

1. Heat up a stock pot or get out your slow cooker. Peel, cut into small dice and sauté the following in a little olive oil until soft:

2-3 carrots
2-3 ribs of celery
1-2 onions

2. Add the following to the sautéed vegetables, cover & simmer for 2-3 hours until the peas are tender:

1.5 – 2 cups split peas, rinsed
2 bay leaves
4-5 cups stock

3. Give it a good stir and add if using:

2 cups ham, diced
salt & pepper to taste

Soup’s done – serve as is or over your favourite pasta, rice or potatoes. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a shake of cayenne pepper or smoky paprika.

get creative

Switch up the cooked meat stirred in at the end of cooking – meatballs, diced pork or chicken, sliced sausages
Switch up the liquid – vegetable, chicken or beef stock, tomato juice, stir in a can of diced or crushed tomatoes
Add dried herbs at the beginning of cooking – oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, herbes de provence or a bouquet garnis
Add chopped fresh herbs at the end – sage, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley, cilantro
Add a teaspoon or two of a spice or herb blend in lieu of other flavourings to create a signature soup: