Despite being absolutely delicious and a must on a particularly cold winter day, split pea soup is not a pretty dish. Even with my attempt to prettify it with the addition of a dollop of sour cream and chopped spring onion - neither of which it needed - it still looked exactly like it did in the photo above. On taste alone however it remains on my winter dish roster. Also, it is cheap as chips to make as neither ham hock or dry beans are hard on the wallet.
This recipe made enough for 6 large bowls of soup.
2 smoked ham hocks
1 supermarket ham steak, cubed
1 14 oz package dry split peas (I used yellow, green is good as well)
1/2 white onion, peeled and cut in 4
1 large carrot, peeled and cut in 3 or 4
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 whole Jalapeño, pricked in several places with a fork. (Doing this will add a faint smokiness to the soup and a tiny int of heat without packing a wallop)
1 bay leaf
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Place the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat.
As soon as it is sizzles, add the ham hocks and cook, turning often, until they are browned, about 5 minutes.
Lower the heat, add the garlic and the onion pieces and cook for a few minutes, until the garlic is fragrant.
Add the carrot, split peas, bay leaf, Jalapeño and stock. Cover the pan and cook over low heat (stirring from time to time) until the peas are cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the age and toughness of your split peas.
Remove from the heat and fish out your bay leaf, Jalapeño and ham hocks. Using your immersion blender, blitz the remaining ingredients to form a smooth soup.
Return the pot to the stove and add the cream to the mixture, Stir in and then taste; add salt and pepper to adjust seasoning.
Cut off any edible meat from the ham hocks and add to the pot along with the cubed ham. Heat through and enjoy with crusty buttered bread.
Should you want more heat to your split pea soup (which is not its raison d'etre in life) feel free to blitz some of the Jalapeno when you use your immersion blender.