Split Pea and Ham Soup Version 3.0

This is the third split pea and ham soup I've posted and while it may seem redundant, they are each different in their own wonderful way which is why I can't just let it slide. It's also a bit on the ugly duckling side of things appearance-wise, so I feel obligated to expose the beauty of its flavor over and over and over until we can all agree that split pea soup is awesome.

This soup is great for many reasons but let me touch on the two most important ones. 1) The flavors only get better with time so one pot of soup will cover at least a few days' worth of lunches or easy repeat dinners. 2) It's really really really easy to make. It takes nearly 3 hours from start to finish, but your actual active time will be more like 10 minutes. This is another recipe that is great to try when you will be home for that amount of time busying yourself with other chores or projects. I made this soup, Asiago French Bread (it makes a guest appearance in this post as a dipper for the soup), did laundry, and organized my craft bins in that 3 hour time. Hooray for multitasking!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
• 2 cups dry split green peas
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2-3 cups chopped ham (ends and pieces from your local butcher are perfect for this, meat from a slow cooked ham hock would work, or you can use bacon if you're feeling sinful)
• 2 tsp red chili flakes
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dill
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions: 

1. Heat a large heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the butter, onion and carrots, and cook until the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add all ingredients except the balsamic vinegar. Cover with a lid and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally (about once every 30 minutes). If the soup is quite thick, add 1/2 cup of water at a time as needed. Should be smooth, not thich like mashed potatoes!
2. Once the split peas have cooked down (at the two hour mark they should have basically melted apart in the soup) add the balsamic vinegar and give it a good stir. Cover and simmer an additional 30 minutes, then serve hot with crusty bread and a light salad. 

See I told you the soup was not too sexy lookin'. Don't worry, just turn down the lights and enjoy. Just kidding please don't eat hot soup in the dark. Bad, bad idea.

For leftovers reheat the soup with a splash of chicken stock or water to thin it out as needed.

Spinach & Ham Quiche with an Olive Oil Crust

I have said this before and I'll say it again: the beauty of making a quiche is that it's a great place to use up random bits of leftovers. You know that last tablespoon of capers you can't seem to use up? Or that little hunk of blue cheese you keep meaning to use? Or the mashed potatoes you made too much of? Yeah, you can throw pretty much anything into an olive oil crust, whisk in some eggs, and bake it for a wonderful brunch or set yourself up for quick breakfasts for the week. I have even mixed in beef and broccoli from Chinese takeout leftovers

This recipe came from just that, leftovers. I slow cooked a ham hock earlier in the week for Pig Pie, and I had about a cup of chopped ham leftover. I keep frozen spinach on hand at all times as it's a great add-in for meals that are lacking in color (add it to the rice as it cooks, swirled into a plain broth, into the pot of noodles boiling, etc.).  I also had a few odds and ends of cheeses that I couldn't seem to get rid of, so I shredded the cheeses and added them to the mix as well.

That is also something wonderful about a quiche - it can be as complex or plain as you like!

Ingredients:
Olive Oil Crust: 

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Filling:

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, mozza, parmesan, blue, gouda)
• 1 cup chopped ham (you can substitute this for leftover chicken, turkey, or sausage)
• 1/3 cup cooked spinach (thawed and drained)
• 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

 Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. 
2. Mix all crust ingredients in a medium bowl, using your hands or a large spoon to mix the dough together until smooth. This should come together fairly quick, dough will be soft but not sticky, just oily. Press the dough into a pie plate, cover with plastic wrap and chill the crust in the refrigerator while you assemble the filling. This is not a very firm dough, so expect it to look more rustic that perfect.
3. In a large bowl whisk the eggs lightly then stir in all of the remaining ingredients.  
4.  Remove the crust from the fridge and discard the wrap. Pour the filling into the crust (use a spoon to gently even out the filling if needed). Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crust is golden and the filling has set. 

Serve warm or chilled along with condiments such as salsa, sweet chilli, sriracha, and/or Dijon. 

Split Pea and Ham Soup - second version!

My bf's mom makes an incredible split pea and ham soup, and I have used her recipe for a slow cooker version in the past, but today I was feeling adventurous and wild and ambitious and hungry so I decided to use it again, but this time with my secret weapon: Ham Hock. Ok, it's not really my secret weapon since today is the first time I had the guts to actually buy one, but I tell ya, it is going to be my secret weapon from now on. My bf's mom uses ham bones in her soup, and I always knew that my boneless split pea and ham soup was missing something.... ding ding ding! A bone! Well, my local grocery stores don't often have ham bones laying around but they do have ham hocks (which, by the way, are extremely inexpensive so it's hard to come up with enough excuses to skip the hock).

I'll be honest - I was intimidated by the ham hock for a few years, and I'm so glad I got past that fear today because it is so delicious! Plus, this recipe requires a bit of TLC but it's easy so don't be afraid.

Here is my updated recipe for split pea and ham soup.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb ham hock
• 2 1/2 cups dried split peas
• 3 carrots, shredded
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 8 cups chicken stock

 Directions:

All ingredients together in the pot

1. Place all ingredients in your dutch oven (or a heavy-bottomed pan). Bring to a boil, then simmer with the lid on for 1 hour over low heat, stirring occasionally. 
2. Remove the ham hock and set in the fridge to cool enough to touch (about 1 hour). Continue simmering the soup. 
3. Once the ham is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin (thick outer layer). Then use a knife to cut away the excess fat (I left a a little on the meat just because I can!), and peel off the meat in small chunks and add to the soup. Continue simmering for 30 minutes, then serve hot. 

 Alternatively, if you don't want to use a ham hock you can use a ham bone with meat on it, or even plain old ham without the bone (this is still yummy, but bones lend a special flavor to soup that you don't want to miss!). 

Pea Soup with Ham

I went on a little trip at the beginning of the month to Vancouver Island, and while I was there I was given a big bowl of pea soup. Now, unless my memory fails me, before then I had never tried pea soup. What a mistake that was! I know, I know, I keep telling you I'm not a "soup" person, and here I am telling you, "Eat this soup." Trust me, there is a reason for my inconsistencies. It's called deliciousness.

Anywho, I gobbled the bowl of soup and I couldn't stop thinking about the pea soup all day. The recipe is courtesy of my bf's mom--her food is always delicious, and she was kind enough to share her recipe. I made half a batch which is going to be enough for at least a week's worth of lunches/dinners for meeeee. And no one else.

The only differences in our recipes is that I used plain old ham, whereas she was able to find a ham bone and strip the meat off of it for the soup and cook it with the bone for flavor. I also threw everything in the slow cooker for about 5 hours before hitting the stove since I wasn't around long enough to keep an eye on the pot. In the end it was a similar outcome, but hers was better (probably because it was made with motherly love and a ham bone.. that's just my opinion). So, because my recipe was a little on the weird side, I'm giving you her recipe, just how she emailed it to me:

Pea Soup with Ham (created by a mommy, tested by GG)

I put about 3 cups of peas in water - to just cover them - boil that quickly and then put aside for about an hour to soften the peas.

then add to the peas:  

- the ham bone (if you have one - if you have a ham with a bone then cut off as much of the ham as possible and reserve it to put in almost at the end

- a finely diced onion, 

- thyme, 

- garlic powder (or garlic), 

- a bit of salt and pepper 

-  8 cups of water 

and bring all of the above to a boil, then turn down to simmer for about 90 mins to 2 hours - stirring occasionally and may have to add more water.

then when peas really mushy almost dissolved add 1 cup shredded carrots and 1 cup diced celery and cook another 30 mins or so until all really mushed together 

add ham and cook a bit more (at any time you may need to add a bit more water)

taste add seasoning to taste more thyme, salt and pepper etc.  

and voila!

It doesn't get much better than this! Of course, if you want you can do all of this in a slow cooker for about 10 hours, but the stove-top method brings more flavor.

Thank the universe for shared recipes! Enjoy!