RICK'S YUMMY SPLIT PEA SOUP WITH HAM

Rick's Yummy Split Pea Soup with Ham image

I created this recipe when I did not have a ham bone laying around and was really needing some good split pea soup. Serve a hot bowl of this soup with a nice crusty bread of your choice. I did not add any salt to this recipe due to the ham, but you can add salt as needed.

Provided by Raccoon

Categories Soups, Stews and Chili Recipes Soup Recipes Pork Soup Recipes Ham Soup

Time 5h45m

Yield 8

Number Of Ingredients 12

Ingredients

1 (14 ounce) bag green split peas, rinsed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups finely chopped onion
1 ½ cups finely chopped carrots
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 teaspoon minced garlic, or to taste
7 cups chicken broth, or more as needed, divided
1 bay leaf, or more to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground thyme
2 pounds smoked pork neck bones (such as Smithfield®)
10 ounces cubed smoked ham (such as Carolina Pride®)

Steps:

Place the split peas into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand for at least 3 hours. Rinse peas until the water runs clear; drain.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion, carrots, and celery in hot oil until soft, 8 to 12 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Combine peas, onion mixture, 6 cups chicken broth, bay leaf, black pepper, and thyme together in a large pot. Stir neck bones into chicken broth mixture, adding more chicken broth as necessary to cover bones completely. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and simmer until peas have dissolved and meat is falling from the bones, 2 to 3 hours. Transfer bones to a plate to cool.
Stir cubed ham into soup. When neck bones are cool enough to handle, remove remaining meat from the bones; discard bones and stir meat into soup. Continue to simmer until ham and meat are heated through, about 5 minutes.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 562.2 calories, Carbohydrate 36.8 g, Cholesterol 116.2 mg, Fat 22 g, Fiber 14.1 g, Protein 52.7 g, SaturatedFat 6.6 g, Sodium 2088.5 mg, Sugar 7.6 g