Friday, December 10, 2010

Homemade Soup - Easy Pea Soup With Ham

If you are looking for comfort food recipes, chicken noodle soup is often the first dish to spring to mind. There is something intrinsically comforting about a chicken soup recipe and this dish is popular all over the world in different forms.
Another comfort food is pea soup. This smooth yet chunky concoction is great on a chilly evening and you can serve it with crusty bread and butter for a really satisfying and substantial snack. This kind of soup has been eaten for hundreds of years and the ancient Romans and Greeks used to cultivate peas in 400 BC. Street vendors in Athens were selling hot pea soup at the time.

German Split Pea Soup

This recipe is quite nutritious because of all the vegetables in it and the whole family will love the flavor of this dish. It is up to you whether you leave it quite chunky or puree it but it is nice to puree half the finished broth then add it back to the pan, so it is both smooth and chunky. The texture is a big part of this enjoyable recipe.
Whether you are suffering with a cold or the flu or you just fancy something hot and tasty, easy pea broth with ham is a great recipe to make. You can use a big pot or Dutch oven to make it.
Let this tasty broth simmer away and make the house smell wonderful. If you have cooked a bone-in ham, you can use the bone for this recipe instead of using a ham hock. This recipe makes enough to serve eight people.
What you will need:
  • 2 finely diced carrots
  • 2 finely diced celery ribs
  • 1 lb smoked ham hock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 cups dried yellow split peas or dried green split peas
  • 4 cups low-salt chicken broth
  • 2 minced cloves garlic
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 finely chopped onion
  • 3 thinly sliced green onions
How to make it:
Remove the skin and fat from the ham hock and discard them. Heat the oil in a big pot over a low to moderate heat, and then add the celery, carrots, onion, ham hock, salt, pepper, garlic, and bay leaves. Cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the peas, broth, and water and bring the mixture to a boil. Skim any foam off the top. Cover the pot and let it simmer for about an hour and three quarters, or until the meat is tender enough to come off the hock and the peas break down.
Take out the ham hock and take the meat off it. Shred the meat and discard the bone. Also, discard the bay leaves. Puree half the soup in a blender, and then put it back in the pot with the ham. Alternatively, you could use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it is chunky.
If you want to make this recipe ahead, let it cool for half an hour and then refrigerate it in an uncovered container until it is cold. Cover the container. The broth will keep for up to two days, so just reheat it to serve. Garnish the hot soup with green onions just before serving it.
Different people have different ideas about comfort food but a chicken soup recipe is guaranteed to cheery you up and brighten your day. What about making an unusual recipe like chicken tortilla soup to make a change from classic chicken noodle soup recipes?
Look for Our Heart Health Recipes at ChickenNoodleSoups.com