French Canadian Pea Soup
Every January my Mom would make a big batch of hearty yellow split pea soup, a traditional French-Canadian soup. We always had a baked ham over the Christmas holidays, so my mom’s recipe made use of the left-over ham bone.
This is a wonderful winter soup, hearty enough to have as a dinner soup. It’s perfect for warming you up after a day spent out in the cold enjoying winter, skating, or tobogganing, or even if you haven’t been outside and you are just cocooning indoors out of the cold.
Luckily, you don’t need to have a left-over ham bone to make this soup, a ham hock does the job. I like to use a smoked ham-hock, as I like the smokiness in the finished soup, but you can use an unsmoked ham-hock if you prefer.
The ham simmers away with yellow split peas, onion, carrots, and celery, along with bay leaves, thyme, and savory for seasoning. During the long, slow simmer the soup becomes infused with the flavour from the ham.
If you can’t find a ham hock, a ham steak is a good substitute. To add a smoky flavour, brown some chopped bacon in the pot before adding the vegetables.
Equipment
- Dutch oven or stock pot
Ingredients
- 1 lb ham hock (smoked, or unsmoked)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 1¾ cup dried yellow split peas
- 8 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried savory
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Trim the skin from the ham hock and discard. Set the ham hock aside.
- In large Dutch oven or stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent, 5-10 minutes
- Stir in the split peas, bay leaves, savory, thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
- Add the ham hock and the water . Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until peas are soft, and soup is thickened, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Add additional water if soup becomes too thick.
- Transfer the ham hock to a plate and let cool slightly.
- Remove the bay leaves from the soup and discard. Note: For a thicker soup use an immersion blender and give the soup a quick blend, just enough to thicken, but not fully puree the soup. Alternatively remove a cup or so of the soup, blend, and return to the pot.
- Once the ham hock is cool enough to handle, remove any meat on the hock and add back to soup. Discard the fat and bone from the hock. Stir to combine the meat with the soup. Taste and generously season with salt and pepper, to taste.