Talk about nostalgia. My mum used to make this for me as a kid and it brings back happy memories every time. I think I might have done my mum proud with my recipe and stayed true to the dish’s thriftiness to boot :). It also freezes well so I got a whole week’s worth of lunches.

You don’t have to cook pea and ham soup in a slow cooker but it is worth the low and slow cook for the extra depth of taste you will get. I will also leave the decision to blend or leave the soup chunky up to you. I did a halfway option, blended soup with some of the ham left chunky.

You will be:

1. Preparing your ingredients
2. Cooking low and slow
3. Removing the bones
4. Blending or not
5. Serving.

You will need:

• Ingredients:
  • 1.5 cups dried yellow split peas
  • 2 celery sticks, rough chopped
  • 2 carrots, rough chopped
  • 1 brown onion, rough chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 ham hock (mine was ~850g)
  • 10 cups water
•  Equipment:
  • a long sharp knife
  • a chopping board
  • a slow cooker
  • a pair of kitchen tongs
  • a wooden spoon
  • a stick mixer

Preparing your ingredients

1. Thoroughly rinse the split peas under cold water until it runs clear.
2. Place them at the bottom of your slow cooker, turn this on to low.
3. Chop the:
   • 2 celery sticks
   • 2 carrots
   • 1 brown onion
4. Add them on top of the layer of split peas.
5. Add the bay leaf.
6. Add the ham hock after giving it a quick rinse.
7. Add 10 cups of water and cover.

Cooking low and slow

Cook for about 6 to 8 hours (more if the meat is not falling off the bone) turning the hock over every now and again.

Removing the bones

Remove the main bones and then look carefully for any other little bones. This is important if you are going to blend the soup. You can use the bones to make Bone Meal for your garden.

Blending or not

Blend the soup now if you want to. I did but I kept some of the ham hock whole for serving purposes.

Serving

Some crusty bread and cracked black pepper would go a treat :).

Enjoy,

PK

Related Links:

• see more soup post here
• see more slow cooker posts here
• see more pork posts here