With all of the recipes he looked at, I was also surprised not to see any heavy cream ready to be added to the pot. Definitely wasn't going to say anything about that! Chuck did bring that up later, but said he chose to add additional split peas to thicken it rather than cream.
This soup smelled awesome, even just as the ingredients were added. The smell just kept getting better and better as time went on and we enjoyed it with some fantastic beer bread I had made a couple of nights before. Here's the recipe for it: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/whole-wheat-garlic-and-herb-beer-bread/ I used a porter beer, and a lot of butter but not quite as much as it called for.
We really enjoyed this soup. Chuck was hungry a few hours later and said he knows better than to just have soup for dinner and should have added a sandwich. I was good to go.
Split Pea and Ham soup
Ingredients
1 lb Dry split peas
2 Leeks, most of the whites, some of the greens, thinly sliced
2 Carrots, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Celery stalk, large, chopped
1 Yellow onion, chopped
1/2 Red Bell Pepper
1 t Italian Seasoning
1 pinch Red pepper flakes
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
12 oz. Smoked pork neck bones (anything smoked with bones will work)
5 c. Chicken stock, low sodium
1 c. Water
12 oz. Hormel ham, diced
Tip from Chuck: It's easy to make this soup very salty. Be sure to get low sodium chicken stock so you can control the amount of salt. Throughout this whole process he only added one pinch of salt. You are getting plenty from the smoked neck bones and the ham.
Directions
1: Soak split peas for at least 1/2 an hour, covered completely in water. Then drain
the water out.
2: Prep all veggies while warming a drizzle of olive oil in a dutch oven to low heat.
Tip from Chuck: Veggies don't need to be cut uniformly because they will be
blended together at the end.
3: Add the celery, carrot, bell pepper, and onion to the dutch oven. Add another drizzle
of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
4: Once those have cooked for a couple of minutes, add the Italian seasoning and red
pepper flakes. Let cook for a few minutes, increase the heat to medium and
add the leeks. Let cook until the veggies soften up (about 10 minutes).
5: Add the neck bones, and stir them into the veggies. Let them cook for a few
minutes before adding the garlic and let cook for 1 more minute.
6: Add the chicken stock, water and peas. Make sure it's all combined well and let
simmer for about an hour, covered.
7: Remove the pork bones and use an emulsion blender to make it nice and smooth.
Add the ham and a pinch of pepper.
8: Continue to cook on low heat, uncovered, to let some of the liquid evaporate off.
Then it's time to eat!
What do you think? Cream? No cream?
