How to Make Split Pea Soup

Winter is here, and it's a great time to make a big pot of split pea soup and ham. Serve it up hot with crusty French bread, a salad and some red wine. Eat hearty, then relax by the fire with a good movie. The perfect night in.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• 5 or 6 hamhocks
• a bag of split peas, found in the dry food section of any store.
• a small onion, chopped
• 2 gloves of garlic, chopped fine or 2 tablespoons of packaged garlic, found in the deli section of any store.
• 10 baby carrots juilenned
• a stalk of celery chopped fine
• ground sea salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• water
• 5 gallon crock pot
• a loaf of Italian or French bread or sourdough, baked until hot and crusty on the outside and soft on the inside (the butter will melt into the bread when you butter it)
• fresh green salad (I prefer a spinach or Caesar)
• a bottle of red wine of your choice (I prefer Merlot)

Pot O' Soup

1. Open bag of split peas and pour into crock pot, cover with 2 cups of water.
2. Add hamhocks to water and peas. Cover with another cup of water. Then added vegetables and spices. Cover crock pot and cook on Low for 6 hours. Everything can be put in the crock pot the night before. Then turn on the crock pot on your way out the door to work. Dinner will be waiting for you.
3. This is an optional step, but it makes the soup so very smooth and rich. Remove ham hocks and carrots from crock pot with slotted spoon and set aside. Using an electric mixer on high, mix the split soup, to a smooth texture, as thick as gravy.
4. Put carrots back into pot. Remove any skin from hamhocks and cut meat into small pieces.
5. Heat bread in a preheated 375 degree F oven. Prepare salad while bread is heating
6. Set table, light candles, pour the wine and enjoy your delicious meal as the snow falls outside.

Tips & Warnings

• Any remaining soup can be frozen up to 3 months. For another delicious meal when you don't want to cook. It also makes great leftovers.
• Eating to much will make you sleepy.