Homemade Split Pea Soup With Ham Hock

Whenever I'm back in the US visiting family, I always take my wife and kids to Pea Soup Andersons. It's a pea soup restaurant. How's that for focussed? 

I've been going there since I was a kid. Back then it was the only restaurant between our home in Turlock and the coast. It was a nice pit stop.

My son Joe fell in love with the place and insisted we tried making something similar at home. At Pea Soup Andersons, the pea soup is always served with chucks of ham, cheese, spring onions and croutons to top you soup with. This is very exciting for kids believe me.

We first made this copycat recipe about ten years ago and it's still a family favourite today, especially when it's cold outside.

So here you go. Enjoy. This soup is not only quite filling, it's delicious and good for you too.

If you like this recipe, you might like to try some of these too...

Fried artichoke hearts with Parma ham
Homemade chilli con carne
Italian green bean recipe
40 clove garlic chicken

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Recipe

Homemade Pea Soup With Ham Hock

Yield: 4 - 6

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 bone in ham hock weighing about 1.5lb (750g)
• 1 500g bag dried split peas - rinsed and soaked in water overnight
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic - finely chopped
• 2 carrots - thinly sliced
• 2 celery sticks - thinly sliced
• 1 large onion
• Chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon of each - fresh oregano, fresh parley, fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 200c (400f) and roast the ham hock for about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, pour the oil into a large pot and fry the onions over medium heat until translucent and soft.
3. Now add the garic, celery, carrots, bay leaves and herbs and fry for a further few minutes
4. Pour in the rinsed, soaked peas and cover with enough chicken stock to cover by about two inches.
5. Add the roasted ham hock.
6. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until the peas are fall apart tender.
7. When the peas are ready, remove the ham hock to cool a little and pulverise the soup with a hand held blender. A regular blender can be used too. It just takes longer.
8. When the ham hock is cool enough to handle, cut the meat into small pieces to serve with the soup.
9. Season the pea soup with salt and pepper to taste and serve with the ham, shredded Cheddar, spring onions and croutons.
10. This is a one dish meal. Nothing else is needed.

I hope you enjoy this homemade split pea soup recipe. If you do try it, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.