Slow Carb Split Pea Soup
I don't know about where you all live, but here in the San Francisco Bay area it's beginning to feel a little like fall. And what better foggy-day meal than split pea soup? Here's the recipe I use for a an easy, slow-carb-friendly comfort-food meal. Added bonus: make the recipe early in the week and you can just reheat individual portions throughout the rest of the week for a quick meal.
Ingredients
- bacon - 2 strips
- yellow onion - 1 whole onion, chopped
- celery - 4 stalks, chopped
- carrots - 3, peeled and chopped
- garlic - 2 cloves, minced
- marjoram - 2 1/2 tsp, dried
- split peas - 1 1/2 cups dried, green
- water - 8 cups
- ham - 1 1/2 lbs, good quality, preferably smoked ham hocks. Note, if using regular ham, keep it in large pieces.
Instructions
In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the bacon. When the bacon is crispy, remove it and reserve it but leave the bacon fat in the pot. Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic to the bacon fat. Sauté until soft and just beginning to brown, 8-10 minutes. Add pork and marjoram and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add peas, stir to coat, and then add water. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer, stirring every 5-10 minutes, for 1 hour 15 minutes or until pork is tender and peas are falling apart.
Remove ham from soup. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup (if using a standard blender, add soup in batches to blender, being careful of splashes if the soup is hot). Cut pork up into small chunks and add back to the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. When serving, you can crumble the bacon over the top.
This can be made ahead and actually tastes better with age (a day or two after initially making)!
Photo credit: thebittenword.com
(61 votes, average: 3.56 out of 5)
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This looks yummy! I’ll try it!
@Beth Trust me — it’s good for a foggy day or any day you need a little comfort 🙂 Please be sure to come back, rate the recipe, and let us know how it goes for you!
This looks fabulous!! Did you use frozen split peas? Or dried? Or canned? Ha! I don’t deal with peas often 🙂
Hey there! I use dried split peas – you can get ’em in bulk for cheap. I’ll update the recipe to reflect that. Thanks!
4-hour body says no carrots
Heya! I don’t recall Tim saying they’re off-limits. They’re a higher glycemic load than some other veggies, but eaten in moderation they’re fine.
I’m using this basic recipe with lentils instead of peas today. I’ll report back, but I’m betting it’ll be great.
Nice! Be sure to come back and let me know how it goes!
It’s yummy – Here’s the recipe:
Your split pea soup recipe with peas replaced with organic lentils plus 1 chopped red bell pepper and substitute 4 cups water with low sodium chicken broth. I used 3 cloves garlic.
No puree; it’s great just as it is and has wonderful texture and flavor.
NICE – thanks for the recipe; I’ll give it a try!
Could you please post the CARBS, calories, fat, and protein in this split pea soup? Thanks!
How many serves does this make and what size is a serve pleaseKate
What’s the word on stock pots? Can we use them? My thinking is that they are small enough in dosage they won’t impact anything…correct me if I’m wrong please and thanks