Split Pea and Ham Soup

In a medium stock pot, saute the onion in the olive oil until it is soft.

Add the ham bone, split peas, potato, chicken stock, water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and then turn it down to medium low and simmer for 1.5 hours or until the peas are tender. I like mine with a little bit of a bite, so I don’t overdo it. Remove the bone and bay leaves. Taste for salt; you may not need to add any depending on the saltiness of your ham and stock.

Mash up some of the soup either by putting some into a blender, using a stick blender or just mashing with your Pampered Chef Mix N Masher. Add in the chunks of ham and the pepper. I can never have too much fresh ground pepper in mine.

When I made this, I had leftovers from a spiral-sliced ham so I used the bone with some of the meat attached in the soup during the simmering to give flavor, and then cut up extra meat along with what was on the bone to add in at the end. Your other option, if you don’t have a bone, is to add some of the ham chunks at the beginning, and the rest at the end.