First Post of the New Year! SPLIT PEA WITH HAM!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  I hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful holiday season!  My mommy has been here visiting.  She is leaving tomorrow and I wish I could just kidnap her and keep her here with me forever!  There is just something about having your mom with you that makes everything great!  Anyway, tonight we are making my all time favorite soup, and David's too!  Split pea with ham!  I LOVE split pea soup.  It is perfect in the wintertime, there is just something about it that screams comfort!  We like to garnish the soup with homemade croutons or parmesan fishy crackers. YUMMY!


Split Pea Soup with Ham

• 1.5 lbs green split peas
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 2 large  pork hocks or shanks
• 1 cup "emergency" ham, diced (optional - in our house, we love a lot of ham in our soup.  Many times, the ham shanks don't provide enough ham for our liking, so we buy extra ham and dice it and throw it in!  We call it "emergency" ham.)
• 10 cups chicken or ham stock (I prefer chicken, but have made it with ham stock before and it turns out very nicely)
• 1/2 stick butter
• 2 tbsp. dried herbes de provence 

In a large stock pot, heat the butter over medium high heat until melted.  Add the hocks/shanks, the carrots, the celery, the garlic, and the onions and the herbs and saute about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are starting to sweat and meat is fragrant.  Add the stock and turn down to medium low.  Simmer covered for about an hour.  Remove hocks from the soup and remove the meat. Add the meat plus the emergency ham back into the soup pot, and then add the split peas.  Turn up heat and bring to a boil, then turn heat back down to medium low and simmer another hour uncovered or until peas are smooth.  Serve with your favorite soup toppings and a side of bread!

I totally forgot to take a picture of my soup, but I will be sure to do so with the leftovers and upload it.  

Happy New Year!