Split Pea Soup

Fix this warm soup on a cold day and enjoy the winter!!

Ingredients

2-1/4  cups dried split peas, (1 pound), sorted and rinsed

8        cups water

1        large onion, chopped (1 cup)

2        medium celery stalks, finely chopped (1 cup)

¼       teaspoon pepper

1        ham bone or 2 pounds shanks (or pork substitute for vegetarian version)

3        medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch slices (1 1/2 cups)

Directions

• Heat peas and water to boiling in 4-quart Dutch oven. Boil uncovered 2 minutes; remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour.
• Stir in onion, celery and pepper. Add ham bone. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 1 hour 30 minutes or until peas are tender.
• Remove ham bone; remove ham from bone. Trim excess fat from ham; cut ham into 1/2-inch pieces.
• Stir ham and carrots into soup. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes or until carrots are tender and soup is desired consistency.

Expert Tips

Preparing split peas for cooking is easy! Just pick over the dried split peas and discard any grit or discolored peas. Place the split peas in a bowl, and cover them with water. After a minute or two, remove any skins or split peas that float to the top. Finally, rinse the split peas in a colander.