Yellow split pea soup

 

January in Minnesota is still seasonal: Weeks of subzero temperatures when the house makes cracking sounds of discontent and the planes lumber overhead ominously. That kind of weather calls for thick socks and thick soups. Like wallpaper sludge thick, only tastier and a better color.

This recipe definitely qualifies as thick. It's sturdy enough you can stand up a spoon in it, the kind of savory sludge required for super cold days. This is one of my deep winter regulars, although this time I tried it with a smoked turkey leg instead of a smoked ham hock. That got the smoked turkey leg out of my freezer, where it's been languishing waiting for me to find back the other thick soup recipe I bought it for. 

It can't stand up against the furnace being out for 16+ hours while you huddle under an electric blanket waiting for the service repair guy; few things can. But it can help comfort you as the heat slowly seeps back into the radiators and, finally, into your bones. And hey, it's warmed up enough today to snow!

Yellow split pea, yam and carrot soup

Adapted from “Country Cooking” by Time-Life Books

Ingredients

1 small ham hock, about 1 pound, or a smoked turkey leg

4 cups water

1¼ cups yellow split peas

2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)

1 small yam, peeled and cut into chunks

5 medium green onions, chopped

1 red pepper, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 bay leaf

Method

In a large saucepan, bring ham hock and water to a boil. Boil for 4 minutes, skimming off the foam bits that rise to the top.

Add split peas, carrots, yam, green onions, red pepper, garlic and bay leaf. (Depending on how super thick you like your soups and how tall your ham hock is, you might want to add a ½ cup more water at this point; I usually do. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered until peas are tender, about 2 to 2½ hours.)

Remove ham hock or turkey leg. Remove any meat from the bone and cut into bite-size pieces. Mash part of the vegetables in the soup pot against the side of the pot to make a creamier soup. Remove bay leaf. Return meat pieces to the pot, heat through and serve.

This soup thickens up even more if it's refrigerated. If you make it in advance you may want to have some broth on hand to thin it a bit. Unless it's -13 outside.

Rating: This is one sturdy, tasty soup. And the red, green and yellow make it much more colorful than wallpaper paste.

Some other sturdy soups to get you through January:

Vegetarian chili

Split pea soup with ham, the name of which sounds similar to the recipe above, but it has a very different flavor profile.