Smooth and tasty split pea soup

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Split pea soup doesn’t always conjure up images of a delicious fall meal. But this recipe just might change your mind.

Peas contain very high amounts of protein and fiber, both of which are difficult to get enough of these days. Not only that, this recipe is meant to be pureed and smooth upon serving, which eliminates the chalky “bean” texture frequently associated with beans and dried peas. For those who don’t dice vegetables evenly or expertly, you’ll feel liberated by the idea that everything will be pureed and finely combined in the end.

So, give it a try! Despite the soaking of the peas and the boiling of the hambone, this recipe isn’t labor-intensive and really is impossible to screw up.

Interestingly, the first time I made this soup (or any split pea soup, for that matter) my sense of taste was virtually non-existent due to a virus. Luckily, it turned out great despite me not being able to “taste test” it before serving.

The night before, measure out 4 1/2 cups of dried split peas and cover them generously with water in a large bowl (they will swell). If you can, before going to bed, dump out the water (it’ll look bubbly) and add some fresh. This will help to remove some of the “gas” product from the peas as well as soften them so they cook quicker the next day. Try to do at least two changes of water before making the soup. It really works! Drain the peas just before you begin cooking.

Start with a good, whole ham bone. Think leftovers here. I take the leftovers from the holidays and toss them in the freezer for whenever I might choose to make soup. Place your ham bone in the largest stock pot you have... mine I believe is about 40 quarts (it's pretty large). Toss in three bay leaves. Cover the hambone almost entirely with water. You'll probably fill it about 3/4 full. You want to bring it to a rolling boil quickly, then maintain a low boil for atleast two hours before even thinking of removing the ham bone.

Now that you have the broth boiling, get the onions started caramelizing. If you haven't’ caramelized onions, it’s extremely easy and actually quite a lazy process but it adds so much flavor to the final recipe. You'll want to roughly chop 2-3 medium to large onions. Toss them in a frying pan with about 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and about 3 tablespoons of minced garlic. Set it on medium heat.

Stir around a bit for about 10-20 minutes until they're getting translucent and almost all the liquid has cooked off. Set you kitchen timer for 40 minutes. Turn the stove setting to low... think roughly the first or second setting of heat. Stir in 1 Tbsp. brown sugar. Cover the pan tightly with foil. After 40 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

While the broth is being infused with ham, and the onions are caramelizing, cut up the rest of the veggies. You’ll want 4-6 cups of roughly diced carrots, sweet potato, celery stalk and/or potato. Use whatever root vegetables you have in the house. It'll turn out great.

After the hambone had boiled for 2 hours, remove it. (You can cool it and pick off the meat and add it to the soup immediately before serving.) Put into the broth the diced veggies, the pre-soaked split peas and the caramelized onions.

Boil this mixture for 2 hours until everything is tender and falling apart and then, use an immersion blender or a blender to puree the soup. I prefer the immersion blender because you won't have any extra dishes this way.

Now add the picked over ham pieces and stir.

Enjoy with some crusty bread on the side!