Dan's Green Split Pea soup

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Nutritional Info
  • Servings Per Recipe: 8
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 306.7
  • Total Fat: 9.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 43.9 mg
  • Sodium: 439.8 mg
  • Total Carbs: 33.1 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 6.9 g
  • Protein: 24.7 g

View full nutritional breakdown of Dan's Green Split Pea soup calories by ingredient


Introduction

My grandmother's Polish recipe, minus the salt and using lean ham instead of salt pork. I also changed the recipe from simmering the bones overnight to cooking them in a crock pot.

Note there are two sets of cooking instructions: one for the broth (which I manually entered elsewhere) and one for the soup itself. The broth takes almost a day to cook, but since it's cooked in a crockpot you won't notice the passage of time for it.

It's really not as bad as it sounds; for most of the cooking you can set a timer and do something else while things take their time.
My grandmother's Polish recipe, minus the salt and using lean ham instead of salt pork. I also changed the recipe from simmering the bones overnight to cooking them in a crock pot.

Note there are two sets of cooking instructions: one for the broth (which I manually entered elsewhere) and one for the soup itself. The broth takes almost a day to cook, but since it's cooked in a crockpot you won't notice the passage of time for it.

It's really not as bad as it sounds; for most of the cooking you can set a timer and do something else while things take their time.

Number of Servings: 8

Ingredients

    1 pound dry green split peas, soaked overnight
    8 cups ham bone broth (see instructions)
    6 cloves garlic
    1 cup cooked lean ham
    1 cup finely chopped carrots
    1/2 cup chopped onions
    2 large celery stalks, sliced
    1 bay leaf
    Black pepper, coarse ground, to taste (about 1 tsp)

Tips

Long bones with marrow make the best broth; I recommend pig knuckle or leg bones so you can get the gelatin from the cartilage at joints. As a bonus, the vinegar not only adds flavor but helps leach vital minerals from the bones into the broth.

Cook time does not include time spent making the broth, only the time to cook the soup, because the broth more-or-less cooks itself. Also, it does not include time in the food processor; that is included in the prep time.

Of course, you can use canned or other prepared broth, but that has a lot more sodium and sugar; this broth has very little of either.


Directions

STEP ONE: HAM BROTH AND PEAS, to be done the day before.

PEAS: start the soaking process. You will use these tomorrow, not in the broth today.

BROTH: Trim 1 pound or so of ham bones of as much fat and meat as possible (see TIPS for the best bones to use). Place in a large pot and add 4 quarts (16 cups) of cold, clean tap water, 6 cloves of garlic, and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Heat until boiling.

Place contents carefully into a crockpot set to low and cook 12 - 24 hours (longer is better). When the broth is done, remove and discard the bones and strain through a colander. Cool the broth in the refrigerator until any fat rises to the top and solidifies. Remove the fat when ready to use the broth.

STEP TWO: SOUP, can be done any time after the broth is ready and the peas have soaked.

Place the ham and vegetables into a skillet. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are softened.

While cooking the ham and vegetables, drain and rinse the peas, and then place them into a large sauce or stew pot (steel, not aluminum!).

When the ham and vegetables are finished, reserve about half of the ham and half of the carrots; if you get a bit of onion and celery that's fine. Add the remaining mixture to the peas in the stew pot, then add the bay leaf and the broth from above. Heat to a slow boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about an hour.

After simmering, remove the bay leaf. Run the soup through a food processor a bit at a time (this requires a separate container to hold the processed food) until smooth. Rinse out the soup pot, return the soup to the pot, and add the reserved ham and vegetables. Simmer for another 20-30 minutes, seasoning with black pepper to taste.

Serving Size: Makes about 8, 1 cup servings

Number of Servings: 8

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user DANJODEA.