Split Pea and Ham Soup

Cookbook Recipe #29


With the money that Phil and I got for Christmas I wanted to get a large bookshelf to put in our kitchen for all my cookbooks. Now all of them did not fit on there, but most of them did. I absolutely love it! I think I have a thing for bookshelves because I have a very large bookcase for movies and books upstairs in our house. Something about them makes me feel very homey for some reason. I like having all my cookbooks in one spot as well.



Here is how it looks:

While I was organizing my cookbooks Phil made the soup. I got this Soup Bible cookbook from my friend Nicole. She knows how much I LOVE soup. So it was the perfect gift.  This book has so many soups that I want to try. This split pea and ham soup recipe was not originally one of those recipes. I have always thought split pea soup sounded and looked horrible. Never thought I would want to make it by any means. But my Mom gave me the leftover ham bone from our Christmas brunch, so I figured I would give it a whirl. Because I was too excited about the bookshelf to wait to put my cookbooks on it, Phil made dinner. The soup was soooo delicious. It really does not taste like peas at all. And there is something about using the ham bone in the soup that gives such a rich flavor. I really liked how pureeing some of the soup, gave it a nice thick texture. It was very hearty. We will definitely be making this one again! The picture does not do the soup justice by any means. It tastes worlds better than it looks.



Split Pea and Ham Soup
Adapted from The Soup Bible

1 cup green split peas
1 cup yellow split peas
2 cups diced ham
7 cups water
2 celery ribs and leaves, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
Salt
Pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 leftover ham bone, or ham hocks


Rinse peas in a colander under cold water and discard any debris.

In a large dutch oven combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for an hour and 15 minutes.

Stir frequently near the end of cooking to keep soup from scorching.

Transfer ham bone to cutting board and cut off any ham that is left on the bone. Discard bone and set aside ham.

Remove 3 cups of soup and place in blender. Blend until smooth. Add back to soup and add ham from bone.


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