Split Pea and Ham Soup

This has to be my ultimate favourite winter soup (as I am writing this, I have a pot simmering away on the stove). It is a stick-to-your-ribs type of soup that goes a long way. One pot serves my family of 4, 3-4 times. Usually when I make this recipe, I freeze the leftovers in meal sized containers for future use. It freezes well and lasts up to 6 months in the freezer, though mine never quite makes it that long.

Let's make some soup.

What you'll need:



16 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
2 medium onions, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 tsp of dried oregano
6-8 medium carrots, diced
4 medium potatoes, diced
2 lbs of dried split peas (about 4 1/4 cups)
1-2 lbs of ham, diced (3-5 cups) - depends on how much you want. Remember, the more ham you use, the saltier the soup turns out.
Add pepper according to your preferences (I use 1-2 tsp)

Make it:

Pour all of your stock into a large stock pot and start to heat it up.
In another pan, saute the onions, garlic, oil and oregano until the onions are translucent.



Once the onions are ready, add them to the stock. Also add the carrots, potatoes and 3/4 of the peas.



Simmer, uncovered for 40 minutes.

Add the remaining peas and all of the ham. Continue simmering for 40 more minutes stirring often to make sure the peas don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Check to make sure the peas are fully cooked.

Viola, you're done. Enjoy.

*The soup will thicken up near the end of the cooking time. Sorry, I didn't take a picture of that step.