Pea & Ham Soup

PEA & HAM SOUP

SERVES: 6

INGREDIENTS

1 tbl olive oil

1 tbl ghee (or butter)

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 medium brown onions, finely diced

3 small or 2 medium carrots, finely diced

3 sprigs thyme

1/2 tsp ground pepper

4 bay leaves

500g green split peas

2.5 - 3L water

1 ham hock (about 500g)

1 cup frozen green peas

Additional greens: baby spinach to wilt through.

METHOD

Soak the split peas in a large bowl with water. Set aside for 6 hours to soak, then thoroughly rise.

Heat the oil and ghee/butter in a large saucepan (4L capacity) over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion & carrot and cook for 10 minutes or until the onion has softened. Add the split peas, thyme, pepper, bay leaves, ham hock and water. Cover and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 3/4 hours until the ham begins to fall off the bone and the soup has thickened. Turn the heat off.

Remove the ham hock, set aside to cool slightly and pull the ham off the bone. Discard the skin and bone. Shred the ham.

Remove the bay leaves (if you can find them!).

Add the ham back into the pot with the frozen green peas and place the heat back on for 10 minutes to reheat.

Add in your additional spinach leaves for extra greens (highly recommend).

Serving suggestion: to make the soup go further, we served ours on a bed of quinoa, topped with chilli flakes.