The End of Soup Season

As the month of February draws to a close I tend to get excited that spring is coming. I look forward to the hill turning green instead of the dingy brown that it’s been. I’m always a little disappointed too though because I realize there’s not much time left to get my winter “things” done. Like soup. I can’t eat soup in the summer. It’s just not right. And I love to make homemade soup. Probably the first homemade soup I ever made was split pea soup. I realized the other day that we’ve only had it once this season. Partly I’m sure because I’ve been trying to expand my soup making repertoire and it kinda fell to the wayside. I’m putting it on my meal plan for next weekend. Literally, right now I’m writing it on there.

Also, I’ve always used split green peas. Did you know that apparently there is a whiter/yellower version? I just found this out a couple weeks ago- I had no idea.

Split Pea Soup

I don’t remember the original recipe or the website I found it on, but it’s been tweaked so many times over the years that it only has a basic resemblance of the original.

Here’s the stovetop version that I’ve always used. It’s a several hour process, but I think it’s better than the Instant Pot version.

• 16oz dry split peas
• 4 tbsp chicken bouillon powder
• 3 ½ quarts of water
• ½ to ¾ tsp tabasco
• 1 cup of frozen diced onion or half handful of dry minced onion (because I don’t chop onions)
• 4 almost heaping teaspoons dried dill
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tsp white pepper
• ½ to 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 smoked ham hocks
• 1 to 2 cups milk
• 1 lb smoked sausage (optional depending on if you want to chop up the meat from the ham hocks)

Add everything to your stockpot except ham hocks, milk, and sausage. Stir well.

Add ham hocks.

Bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours until peas are tender and mush easily with the back of your spoon.

Remove hocks.

At this point an immersion blender is an amazing thing to have- let it cool just a bit and blend well. If you don’t have an immersion blender then you will DEFINITLY want to wait until it cools completely before you put it in a regular blender. I would suggest covering the lid with a dish towel and giving it just a quick pulse and then releasing the pressure before you go into a full blend.

Once blended and back in the pot, stir in milk until desired creaminess. Pull meat off hocks or dice smoked sausage and add to soup.

The Instant Pot version has a few simple changes…

Reduce water to 5 cups. Once you close the lid set it to “Manual” for 18 minutes. Let it naturally release for at least 15 minutes.