Ham & Split Pea Soup

This is a very simple, hearty soup for a chilly, rainy day especially if you have some leftover ham to eat. Pea soup has a very old lineage dating to antiquity.  Greeks and Romans cultivated the seeds from the pods of the Pisum Sativum plants as early as 600 BC and there are historical accounts of vendors selling hot pea soup on the streets of Athens.  The soup is mentioned in a play, The Birds, written by the Greek comic playwright, Aristophanes, in 414 BC. Today, pea soup in many forms is eaten virtually around the globe.

The American version of pea soup arrived with English settlers to the New World in the form of Pease Porridge, a thicker concoction than what eventually evolved in the nineteenth century.  Pea Soup of those latter days was generally a puree, strained through a sieve to achieve the creamy, smooth texture. 

This recipe, like most of the current age, leaves the split peas intact but they thicken the soup naturally as they cook.  Splitting the peas was a way to enhance release their natural starch, so pureeing is no longer necessary to achieve a thick, hearty soup.

Ingredients
1 pound dried split peas
2 cups cooked ham, cubed
3/4 cup sweet or yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 cup carrots, finely minced
1/2 cup celery stalks, finely chopped
3 tsp garlic, finely minced
4 cups chicken stock (like, Swanson's)
2 14.5-oz cans chicken broth (like, Swanson's)
1 cup water
1 tbsp dried marjoram
1 tbsp powdered thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked salt (like, San Francisco Salt Company Cherry Wood)
olive oil for sautéing

The Recipe
Any package of dried legumes will tell you to sort out the contents and separate any foreign materials in the package and then to rinse the beans or peas in cold water.

Let me give you a tip with split peas I learned the hard way:  do not rinse them until you are just ready to put them into the soup.  If you rinse them ahead of time and allow them to sit for any length of time, the starch in the peas will cause the individual peas to stick together.  Really stick together.  You'll literally have to chisel them apart with a knife. So, wait until the last minute to conduct this task of food hygiene.

Unlike other larger dried legumes, split peas do not require soaking or pre-boiling.  But they do require simmering for a couple of hours, so budget your time accordingly.

In a soup pot or Dutch oven, sauté the onions, carrots and celery over medium high heat until the onions begin to pick up a little golden brown color, about 10 minutes.  Add the minced garlic and sauté a minute or two more.

Add the liquids and then stir in the split peas.  Add the ham and all the seasonings and give the whole pot a good stir.

Bring the soup to a strong simmer over medium high heat, then reduce the heat to low.  Put a lid on the soup pot or Dutch oven and if the lid doesn't have a vent, put it on the pot askew to allow a bit of ventilation for the steam.  Keep the soup at a light simmer for 2 to 2-1/2 hours, stirring the pot every thirty minutes or so.

The soup is ready when the split peas semi-disintegrate and the broth thickens.  Remove the bay leaves before serving.  Some folks like to finish off a mug of soup with some crumbled fried bacon or a few crispy croutons.  Suit yourself.