Split Pea Soup

Split Pea Soup is my ultimate comfort food.  It’s been my favorite food for as long as I can remember.  When other kids would say pizza or spaghetti as their favorite food, I would say Split Pea Soup.  And my mom made the best.  Funny thing is, if you ask me what my least favorite food is, I’ll tell you peas.  Unless they are fresh from the garden, I won’t touch them.  My dad and I used to have stand offs at the dinner table over peas (I won, I’m stubborn).

The way my mom made it was incomparable to any other split pea soup I would have.  I asked her what her secret was and she thought it was just the thickness of the soup.  We like it thick thick thick.  Cooking it slowly in a slow cooker seems to yield the yummiest, thickest soup.  You can do this on the stove top in a pressure cooker for an hour for a quicker meal.

Split Pea Soup

• 4 cups split peas
• 8 cups water
• 1 lbs carrots, peeled and sliced into thick coins
• 1 ham bone or ham hock, with meat
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  Remove ham bone from soup and remove meat from the bone (should fall off easily).  Cut up or shred meat and add back to soup.