Split Pea Soup with Ham Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should split pea soup be thin or thick? ›

However not thickened with traditional methods, the thickness of this soup comes from the cooking down of the split peas themselves. The longer you cook the pea occupied broth, the thicker the soup gets. This is a preference, so you choose your thickness.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

No. Split peas, like lentils, do not need to be soaked before cooking. Beans require soaking prior to cooking, but because these are peas they can be used directly in the recipe. It is still a good idea to rinse your peas thoroughly before cooking to remove any dirt particles.

Using onions, garlic, and fresh spices like thyme will add flavor to the soup. The real trick to making a bland pea soup extra tasty is using a bone or ham hock in the soup during the cooking process. Chicken broth will also add flavor to the soup.

Cooking. Bring about 1.5 cups of water or broth to a boil for every cup of lentils or split peas. Add the lentils, allow water to return to boiling, reduce heat, partially cover pan, and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the variety.

The starches and the gelatin will form a mesh when cooling, so the consistency of the pea-soup will always be thick when cold. On heating, do what Mien advised: add some water or broth to the soup to the consistency that you want.

If your pea and ham soup is looking a bit watery, don't despair: just keep cooking until you get closer to your desired texture. While some recipes say to thicken with cornflour, this is not necessary. Just be patient and keep simmering. Remember the soup will thicken as it cools.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.

Note: Split peas should soften just fine in this amount of cooking time. They do not need presoaking. If your split peas are hard after this length of cooking time, there is something wrong with the peas or with your water. If the peas are very old and dried out, they won't soften.

Using a meaty, uncleaned ham bone is what gives this soup it's amazingly rich and savory flavor. If your ham bone is small, or you are using a ham bone substitute: Be prepared to add up to 4 chicken bouillon cubes to the broth to add more flavor if needed.

What is the difference between split pea soup and pea soup? ›

A recipe for "pea soup" from 1905 is made with split peas, salt pork and cold roast beef. The soup is strained through a sieve to achieve the desired texture. "Split pea soup" is a slightly thinner soup with visible peas and pieces of ham, especially popular in the Northeast, the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest.

Always “sort and rinse” dry split peas. "Sorting" mean looking through dry peas for rocks, broken peas, and non- split pea pulses and remove them. Rinse dry peas under cool water before adding to recipes. This helps remove dust and dirt.

Make sure it's meaty!

So if your ham bone isn't meaty enough, just add a hunk of ham into the soup as well – just to ensure you get enough flavour into the broth. Alternative: give the broth a flavour boost with a dash of stock/bouillon powder.

I like plenty of carrots in my pea soup. Then I add some sort of smoked meat: ham hocks if I can get them, smoked turkey legs or necks if I can't. Bacon at a pinch, but don't cook it in the soup. Pull it out, use the fat to saute the veggies, then use the crisp bacon bits as a garnish when you serve.

How do you make pea soup not gassy? Using Ayurvedic cooking methods, rinsing and soaking your peas before cooking, and eating them in a balanced meal help make pea soup not gassy.

Split pea soup can be too thin due to various reasons. One common reason is using too much water or broth while cooking. Additionally, if the split peas are not cooked long enough, they may not release enough starch to thicken the soup.

Salt and pepper you can just stir in. Same goes for bouillion cubes/paste, though you'll want to mix them into a small amount of soup first to get them to dissolve well and then stir that into the rest of the soup.

If your split peas don't get soft, it's more likely they are old or were stored in a container that wasn't airtight. Even though they keep for quite a while, dried beans don't keep forever.