Pea and ham soup: perfect for cold days
Pea and ham soup reminds me of my childhood, coming home after weekend sport to the comforting aromas wafting out of the kitchen.
This is one of my favourite soups, perfect for cold days when I need something to warm up.
It doesn’t need any fancy ingredients, plus it’s quick and easy to prepare.
With dried split peas, the soup does takes longer to cook, but once it’s simmering away on the stove, it needs little attention other than an occasional stir.
Ham hocks
Most butchers will sell ham hocks. You may need to ask the butcher to cut it for you so that it’ll fit in your pot.
The hock helps to thicken the soup, and the shredded meat stirred through the soup puree gives it a lovely smoky flavour.
Pea and ham soup with parsnips and leeks
When I arrived home to make the soup, the little people had eaten all the carrots.
Most pea and ham soup recipes have onions, celery and carrot. I improvised with parsnips and leeks instead, and I was very happy with the result.
As spilt peas and ham provide the overriding texture and flavour, I think you can get away with substituting different vegetables. Freeze your bits of stale bread to make croutons.
More comforting winter soups
If you’re a fan of comforting winter soups, you might like to try one of these recipes:
Butternut Pumkin, Parsnip and Carrot Soup
Best wishes,
Amanda
PS: If you’ve tried this pea and ham soup or any other recipe on At Amandas Table, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below.
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Pea and Ham Soup
Ingredients
- 1 leek, washed and chopped
- 2 sticks celery, washed and chopped
- 2 parsnips, washed and chopped
- 1 ham hock
- 2 cups green split peas, rinsed and drained
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- a few sprigs of thyme, tied together with string
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 L water
- sea salt and black pepper
Croutons
- 6 slices stale bread allow one slice per person
- olive oil
- sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in the saucepan. Add the garlic, leeks, celery and parsnips. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the split peas, ham hock, herbs, 3L water and 1 tsp salt. Bring to the boil, then turn down to asimmer, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours.
- Allow the soup to cool, then remove the ham hock, and sprigs of thyme. Leave the bay leaves in the soup.
- Puree the soup with a hand held blender.
- Remove the skin from the ham hock and discard. Remove the meat from the bone and shred it wih your fingers, or chop it into small pieces.
- Add the ham pieces to the soup, and reheat (save few pieces to put on top). Season before serving. Add croutons, a few thyme leavs and ham pieces.
Croutons
- Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) and line a baking tray with paper.
- Tear the bread into small pieces. Toss in a little olive oil, salt and pepper, then put on the oven tray.
- Cook in the oven for about ten minutes until the croutons are golden brown
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