Split Pea Soup with Pumpernickel Croutons

Simple food is comfort food to me. This is a very hearty and flavorful soup that is perfect for a fall or winter day. What’s better than soup simmering away on the stove? You can make this soup all fancy pants by using vegetable stock in place of part or all of the water and maybe dropping in a bouquet garni. You could also make this vegetarian by leaving out the meat. I’ve done that, too and it is still fantastic. When I go vegetarian on this, I always use half water and half veggie stock to amp up the flavor. I also like to use some Penzey’s ® Pork Chop seasoning in there, which contains natural hickory smoke flavor, to get the smokiness going.

Ingredients:

Soup:
1 pound (16 ounces) dried split peas
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 smoked ham hock or smoked ham shank (or a leftover ham bone-whatever you have)
8 cups water
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste

Croutons:
2 Tablespoons canola oil
4 slices pumpernickel bread, torn
1 (or 2) teaspoon(s) garlic salt

Directions:

Prepare the split peas by one of two methods:

1)      Rinse the peas in a strainer under running water. Drain and place in a bowl. Cover the peas with 2 inches of clean water. Cover and let soak 8 hours or overnight. Drain and set the peas aside.

2)      Rinse the peas in a strainer under running water. Drain and place in a pot. Cover with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, turn the heat off and cover the pot and let sit for 1 hour. Drain and set the peas aside.

After the peas have soaked and you’ve drained them, heat up the oil in a Dutch oven on medium heat. Add in the onions, carrots and celery. Cook for a few minutes until the veggies are translucent and fragrant, but not brown. Add in the ham hock (or whatever) and cook for several minutes more until you can smell the porky goodness. Pour the water on top. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and let cook for 40 minutes. (Look! Ham stock!) Add in the peas and seasonings and bring back up to a simmer. Cover and cook for 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally.

While the soup is cooking, prepare the croutons by heating the oil in a skillet and tossing in the bread chunks. Sprinkle on the garlic salt and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes on medium until toasty and fragrant. Remove the croutons to a paper towel lined plate and set aside until you are ready to serve.

Remove the bay leaf from the soup and discard. Take out the ham hock and cut the meat off the bone, dicing it into small pieces. Return the diced ham to the soup.

Spoon the soup into bowls and top with croutons.