This is the best thing I ate all week, so I’m bringing it to Justafrugalfoodie’s linky party! Ham and smoked paprika really bring the flavor to this simple soup. I can’t believe how much I loved it.
Original Post:
My refrigerator is overflowing with ham from Easter, so it’s time for split pea soup. Every time I eat this soup, I’m surprised by how great it tastes. It doesn’t look like it should be delicious. It looks homely and utilitarian. While it’s not the prettiest thing in town, it really does taste great. And split peas are very nutritious, coming from the legume family. My children happily finished their entire bowls of this soup, which is unheard of around here. I use the crock pot for this soup, but it can also be made on the stove by simmering on low for a few hours.
Ingredients:
2 tbs. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 ½ pounds ham, chopped into ½ inch cubes
1 bay leaf
6 cups water
4 cups broth
¼ tsp. smoked paprika
1 lb. dried split peas, rinsed just before adding them to the crock pot
Salt and pepper to taste
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Cook the onions, celery, and carrots until just tender. Add the ham and cook for another minute.
- Transfer the vegetables and ham to a crock pot. Add the remaining ingredients to the crock pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 8 hours.
- Remove the bay leaf and puree the soup with an immersion blender, leaving some chunks of ham and carrots.
We are not huge soup eaters here. So many times I have to take a pass on awesome looking soups and chili’s because it’s just too hot to enjoy a steaming bowl of *anything* but we both love Split Pea Soup and I’ve never added Smoked Paprika, a favorite spice around here, which makes this sound really appealing considering all the leftover ham we have. I’m filing this one away in my memory bank because in the coming weeks we are going Lean and Mean and hitting our food storage hard thanks to some super-expensive expenses we had to invest in our Non Producing Garden.
I kept the amount of smoked paprika light because of the kids, but you should pour it on more generously! It goes really well with the split peas.
This looks so tasty!!!
Nothing like a good pea soup.
Thanks for linking this up with me yesterday! It was fun!
Oh, I love split pea soup! It’s such comfort food for me! (MMM and with garlicy croutons? Yum!) Glad we got to party together, woooo.
Thanks for visiting! That’s a great idea about the croutons – I’ll have to try that.