Split Pea Soup (with or without ham)
Hearty, delicious, and packed with protein and fiber, this soup can be vegan or loaded with smoky chunks of ham—the choice is yours.
Split pea soup: hearty, delicious, and secretly good for you. It’s completely vegetarian—unless you toss in a ham hock (or any hunk of ham) while it simmers. Then, well, it’s decidedly not vegetarian. I love it both ways. Sometimes I’m really obnoxious and do the vegetarian version but garnished with bacon or cripsy prosciutto. Gotta keep everyone guessing right?
I couldn’t find a ham hock so I bought a mini Beelers boneless quarter ham at Bristol Farms for $13 and added that. After it simmered in the soup an hour, I took it out, cut off the tough skin and cut the meat into bite sized pieces. It was fantastic.
Yield: a BIG pot that serves at least 8
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