It is cold outside, even for living in the South. To warm us up, I am perfectly happy with my classic chicken and rice soup, veggie beef soup, or my beef stew. My son, on the other hand, has been on a kick lately trying different soups from all over the world, and I am here for it. He has my taste buds.
Since I was going to try something new for him, I wanted to start off with something from our heritage. I found my way to Quebec, which led me to making this Quebec-Style Split Pea Soup. Now the original recipe that I was getting inspiration from called for yellow split peas, I forgot that detail when I went shopping and grabbed green instead. I was rated, according to my son, an 8 out of 10. He claims he never gives anything a 10 out of 10. My Finnish Nissua is the only exception to his rule. Got to love teenagers.
Ham: Many grocery stores carry frozen and fresh ham hocks now, so be sure to look in the frozen meat section for ham hocks if you can’t find fresh! I prefer a fresh ham hock, as you will get just pure pork flavoring in the soup. If you love smoked flavors, you can use a smoked ham hock. You can even use leftover ham if that is what you have on hand. If you want to make this a vegetarian or vegan soup, you can leave it out completely.
Dried Yellow or Green Split Peas: Prepare your dried peas by rinsing well in a colander under cold running water, then picking through the peas and discarding any odd-looking ones. No, you don’t have to pre-soak the peas before adding them to the soup which is a huge time saver. Dried split peas will generally cook to tender in as little as 30-45 minutes without soaking.
Chicken or Vegetable Broth: Use a low-sodium chicken broth for this soup and add any extra salt myself at the end of cooking. For a vegetarian option, replace the chicken broth with vegetable stock.
Be sure to remove the bay leaf before you do any blending, I did give this soup a super quick blend with the immersion blender. Just enough to blend a bit of the peas into the broth, for a thicker soup. You could also remove a cup of the soup and blend it in a blender and add it back into the pot. Or you could just leave it be. It’s completely up to you. That’s one of the great things about soups, they are customizable,
That said, do be sure to taste and season well, if it needs it. It will help to bring together all the great flavors in this soup. I prefer to add all the additional salt and pepper at the end of cooking, as I’m adding some salt with the broth and the ham hock already. Saving it until the end prevents an overly salty soup. No one really wants a salty soup.
Quebec-Style Split Pea Soup
In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, and onion. Cook, stirring regularly, until softened, about 10 minutes.
Stir in dried split peas, bay leaf, savory, and thyme. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth and water.
Trim off and discard skin from ham hocks.
Add the ham hock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pot and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the peas are very soft and soup is thickened, about 1 1/2 – 2 hours. *NOTE: You may need to add additional water or stock if soup gets too thick.
PICK OUT AND DISCARD BAY LEAF and remove the ham hock to a plate. *Note: I prefer a thicker soup, so I blend just a bit of the soup with an immersion blender or blender. Just do a quick blend (or blend just a cup of the soup. You don’t want a completely pureed soup. You want it to retain most of its texture, but the bit of pureed soup will incorporate with the broth for a thicker soup.)
Let ham hock cool slightly, then remove any meat on the hock and add it back to soup. Discard the fat and bone from the hock.
Stir to combine meat with soup. Taste and generously season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Quebec-Style Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
Instructions
