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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup


Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Split pea soup is a perfect soup for the winter.  It is filling, flavorful, and easy to make.  In this recipe, you just put all of the ingredients in a slow cooker and set the temperature.  I used 2 cups diced ham for the recipe but feel free to use a meaty ham bone or ham hocks.  If you are using a ham bone, remove the bone from the soup after it has finished cooking. Remove the meat from the bone and dice up the meat. Return the meat  to the soup. In addition to the ham, I use dried green split peas, onion and garlic powders, a bay leaf, sliced carrots, salt, pepper, ground allspice, and chicken broth.  I like my soups thick, so I pureed 1 cup of the soup mixture after it was done.  I then stirred the puree into the soup.  If you like the soup the thickness it is, ignore the puree part in the instructions.
This soup is rich and hearty.  It goes well with a piece of rustic bread or whole grain crackers.  You can eat this soup for supper or serve it in a cup for lunch or a starter.




 Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Special Equipment:  Slow cooker

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package dried green split peas, rinsed and drained
1 meaty ham bone or 2 ham hocks or 2 cups diced ham
1 cup sliced carrots
1-tablespoon onion powder
1-teaspoon salt
1 Bay Leaf
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
6 cups chicken broth


Directions:

1. Layer the ingredients in a slow cooker in the above order (starting with the split peas and ending with the chicken broth).
2. Do not stir the ingredients.  Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 8-10 hours or until the peas are very soft.
3. Stir the soup and discard the bay leaf.   Remove 1 cup of the soup and puree in a food processor.  Return the puree to the soup and stir.
4. Taste and adjust seasoning if need.  Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Makes 8 servings




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