Toe tingling Pea and Ham Soup - Episode 2.06

On cold winter nights there is nothing quite like coming home to a steaming plate of pea and ham soup. This has always been one of my absolute favourites, and my mum's is pretty hard to beat!
This hearty soup is naturally gluten free, and uses simple ingredients. The only tricky part is leaving it to settle overnight, to remove the fat, and taking the meat off the bone. I'm sure that there are readers of this blog that use bacon bones and pieces of bacon in their soup, but for my money, nothing beats the smokey flavour imparted by the ham hock.


Ham hocks are the shin of the pig. They have a rubbery skin, which is discarded at the final stage of cooking. The meat is succulent, and slightly salty. This means no added salt is required.
There are two types of split peas - yellow and green. I always use the yellow for this soup. There is no taste difference, but Mum always uses yellow and I see no reason to change. Split peas are high in protein and low in fat. They are also high in fiber (25 g of fiber per 100 g portion) 

To see my YouTube demonstration of making this soup, check out the Youtube at the end of this post.

Recipe

Serves 4-6

1 Smoked ham hock
400g split peas
1 brown onion, diced
water

Method:
Place all ingredients in a large, solid based stock pot. Cover with water and bring to boil. Simmer for an hour and half. 
Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate over night.
Next day, using a flat spoon, skim of fat. Remove ham hock, Peel and discard skin from ham hock. Remove all meat from the bone, chopping into small morsels. Return meat to the pot. Stir well. Bring back to the boil and simmer 10 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread or damper

updated March 2023