This soup is a French Canadian favourite. It’s typically made with yellow (or green!) split peas and ham, the ultimate winter comfort food. If you made a ham for the holidays do not throw the bone out! This is the perfect recipe to use up the bone, extracting all that lovely ham marrow and ending up with the coziest soup ever.
This cooks long and slow to fully break down the split peas which thickens the soup, giving it the perfect consistency. The end result is an incredibly thick, bright yellow soup with a ton of ham flavour and little chunks of ham to enjoy in every bite. The most filling soup ever and a great way to warm up during the holidays.
A ham bone with some leftover meat on it is perfect. That way, after cooking the bone for hours, it can be removed from the soup and the extra meat will peel right off to be added back in. This darker meat closer to the bone is incredibly tender after the long and slow simmer. Plus the darker pink pieces have a great contrast with the bright yellow soup.
Keep the stock pot covered for the first 3/4 of the cook time. This way, you keep a good water level without having too much evaporate over the long cooking time. By removing the lid with 30 minutes left, this gives the soup enough time for some of the water to evaporate and to still be left with an appropriate amount. This soup may take a while to cook, but it’s very hands-off. Just throw the split yellow peas, ham bone, bay leaf, onion, carrot, celery and seasonings in the pot and let it simmer for hours while you enjoy spending time with all the family members that are still lingering for the holidays.
Remove the hambone near the end of the cooking time and set aside on a cutting board. Using a fork and knife, try to remove all the extra meat, cutting the pieces into small chunks if necessary.
The vegetables will have had all their flavour leached by the end of the cooking time. At this point, it's up to you if you want to leave them in before using a hand blender to puree the soup. I typically remove the bay leaf, carrots and celery so that the soup stays a pretty bright yellow colour. If you puree the soup with the stewed veggies still in it, it will mute the yellow colour a bit, leaving it with a more orangey-green tint. Completely fine and up to you! The amount of time spent pureeing the soup will also impact the final texture. Like your soup thick and smooth? Puree the soup for longer. Want your soup with some chunks of whole split yellow peas? Then skip the hand blender and use a potato masher instead.
If you have leftovers, store it in the fridge. It will thicken up past the point of soupy. Reheat in a pot on the stove with 1/4 cup of water, stirring until it has heated through and thinned out a bit before eating.
The end result is an incredibly thick soup with a huge burst of ham flavour and little tender pieces of ham. Garnish with pepper, thyme or extra sautéed carrots and celery if desired. Plus, keep an eye out in the future, I’m developing a ham pie recipe using this soup as a base!
Yellow Split Pea and Ham Bone Soup
- Yield: 6 bowls |
- Prep time: 5 min |
- Cook Time: 2 hr 10 min |
Ingredients:
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1 tbsp olive oil
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1 large carrot, peeled
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2 celery stalks, washed
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1/2 medium white onion, peeled
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2 cloves garlic,
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8 cups water crushed or minced
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1 leftover ham bone, with extra meat on it
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2 cups yellow split peas, rinsed
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1 bay leaf
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1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
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1 tsp salt
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ground pepper to taste
Directions:
1. In a large pot on the stove, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrot, celery and onion and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.2. Add the water, ham bone, split yellow peas, bay leaf and salt to the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat before covering and reducing the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 1.5 hours, stirring every once in a while.
3. Remove the lid and let the soup cook for an additional 30 minutes; stirring occasionally and making sure to scrape the bottom to ensure the split peas don’t brown.
4. With ten minutes left, remove the ham bone, bay leaf, carrot, celery and onion. Set the ham bone aside and remove the extra meat from it once it has cooled down some. Optional: leave the vegetables in the soup.
5. Using a hand blender, puree the soup until smooth, about 1 minute. Or, use a potato masher to mash the soup for a more chunky and less smooth texture.
6. With 5 minutes left, add the thyme and extra ham removed from the bone (1-2 cups).
7. Serve in bowls and enjoy! Optional: garnish with fresh thyme and pepper and/or extra sautéed carrots and celery.