Split pea soup with ham, no cans

I confess that growing up I adored soup from a can: Campbell’s tomato paired with gooey toasted cheese sandwiches were a favorite, but so, too, was the pea soup that came of the can with those ridges built in. Just add water and heat.

These days I’m far more trouble to myself than that, and can’t remember when I last prepared a canned soup. Possibly some time before the turn of the century. Obviously while I sometimes feel frantically busy, I clearly have the luxury of way more time than most busy moms do, and I’m not dissing anyone who dutifully opens up the canned variety to feed their kids. Way better for them than fast food, and likely in another few decades, those kids will have fond memories of those same ridged piles of glop that came out the can.

That said, this soup kicks that canned variety’s ass. And it’s comparatively fast to fix as split pea soups go. I have a go-to yellow split pea soup that I love that makes great use of a ham bone, but it’s one of those soak-overnight, simmer-forever varieties. This one claimed to only need to simmer for an hour to cook the peas, with no presoaking. I was skeptical, based on past experience with some other recipes, but it totally turned out to be true. Even the handful of garden peas I added that had dried on the vines cooked up in about that amount of time.

Split pea soup with ham

Adapted from Meredith Deeds’ recipe for Split Pea Soup With Ham and Pumpernickel Croutons from the Jan. 7 Taste section of the Star Tribune.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1 pound dried split peas

8 cups broth (and no, I didn't use cans here either, but you can, and I won't judge)

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

6 ounces ham, cut into ½-inch cubes

Method

Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven or a stockpot over medium-low heat. Cook onion, celery and carrots until softened, stirring to promote even cooking. Rinse peas, sifting through to remove any chaff. Add peas, broth, herbs and seasoning to pot. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 1 hour, until peas have softened and broken down slightly. Add ham and simmer for another 10 minutes to warm it through and incorporate the flavor.

Rating: This is what the canned stuff wants to be when it grows up. It’s easy to make ahead and pull out of the freezer on a cold Saturday when it’s stupid cold outside, like today. (The original recipe has browned croutons in it, and I’m sure they’re tasty, but the split pea soup of my memory involves no croutons, and really, like pea soup needs added carbs?)