Easy ‘Peasy’ Pea Soup With Ham:
- Two 16oz. bags of dried green or yellow peas
- 6-8 cups of water, more or less depending on how thick you want it, you can always add more as you go
- 2-3 cups of baby carrots, halved, more or less to your taste
- 1 1/2 cups chopped white onion
- 3-4 celery stalks, chopped (I like to also add the middle of the celery, with the leaves and all
- 1 Tb. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground cloves
- salt and pepper, to your taste
- 3-4 pounds of cooked, cubed or shredded ham and the ham bone (however much you’d prefer to use)
- Place the peas into a large pot, big enough for all of the ingredients. Rinse the peas under cold water to make sure there are no impurities such as rocks, it happens.
2. Once the peas are all set, cover the peas with about 6-8 cups of water and place pot on the stove. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a slight simmer. Stirring occasionally, sometimes the peas like to stick to the bottom, so make sure to scrape them up as you stir.
3. Get your veggies ready. I like to chop all of mine up into a bowl and add them to the pot. Add the carrots, onion, celery and garlic. Then add your spices; ginger, cloves, salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt because the ham already salty, just a pinch to start. This recipe is very easy and you can cater to your own taste. Stir all ingredients together and let it gently simmer.
4. Add the cubed or shredded ham and the ham bone. If there is fat and meat still on the bone, GREAT! Leave it on and place in the pot. This will give the soup an amazing flavor. Don’t worry about the fat, you will be able to skim it off. Let the soup simmer for about 40-45 minutes. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pan so nothing is stuck. the peas will soften and turn into a yummy mush, and the ham will start to fall off the bone.
5. Once the ham is done, carefully remove to a shallow dish or platter. Let cool for 10 minutes or so. Start to peel away all the meat from the bone, it should fall right off. Add the meat back to the soup. Give the soup a good stir, taste and adjust any seasonings and let simmer another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle into bowls and serve.
