Recipe: Split Pea Soup

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Split Pea Soup
Adapted from Deborah DiFrancesco
Serves 12 (main course)
Active Time: 2 hr Start to Finish: 12 hr

Nothing warms up a gloomy winter day like homemade pea soup (which, consequently takes a solid portion of a day to make).

• 32 oz split peas (2 bags)
• 1 ham bone (optional, arguably)
  
• 3 tsp thyme, dried
• 2 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning (blend of parsley, sage, rosemary, basil, marjoram, etc.)
• 2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp table salt (see cooks’ note)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• Dash fresh rosemary
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 lb carrots, chopped (about 4 cups)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (sweet), (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 7 stalks chopped celery, including leaves (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 6 cups chopped ham (about 2 lb)
• 12 oz barley

Equipment:
12-quart pot

Directions:

• Overnight: Cover peas with at least 3 inches of water and stir. Pour off water and repeat until the water is clear. Soak peas overnight.
• Pour off water and cover peas with at least 2 inches of water. Put burner on medium heat and bring to boil. Add ham bones, thyme, Italian seasoning, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, kosher and table salt, pepper, rosemary, and bay leaves. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, 1 1/2 hours.
• Add carrots, continue stirring, 1 hour.
• Add chopped onion, celery, chopped ham and barley, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Simmer for additional 60 minutes, adding water and additional spices to adjust for consistency and taste.

Cooks’ Notes:

• Salt is a wild card in this version of the recipe because we used a heavily salted Smithfield ham and did not use additional salt. The measurement came from a similar-looking recipe on Epicurious.

Technorati Tags: Recipe, Ham, Pea
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