I am a fan of split pea soup. I buy the spiral-sliced fully-cooked hams at Costco and whenever we have ham for dinner, I save the bone to make split pea soup. If I need to cook chicken for a dish calling for shredded chicken meat, then I might cook the chicken in water and use the flavored water for this split pea soup.

My meals tend to be like guitar riffs where one thing builds on another. This morning I was trying to use up all the Cheesy Potatoes from last night’s Christmas dinner, so I diced some leftover ham and put it on the bottom of a skillet, then plopped the leftover Cheesy Potatoes on the ham. Once heated, I cracked four eggs over the top, covered the skillet until the eggs were cooked to my liking and had a delicious brunch. I digress.

  • Ingredients:
  • Ham bone (with a little meat left on) or bacon or breakfast sausage
  • 4 cups water or chicken stock
  • 1/2 # dried green split peas
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 1 cup celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. dried parsley (optional)
  • Fresh or frozen peas (optional)

If you are using a ham bone, then just put it into a large stock pot. If you are using bacon or breakfast sausage, then fry it in your stock pot first. If there is a lot of fat, drain it off. Add the water, split peas, onion, celery, carrots, salt and pepper, optional parsley. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer for 3-4 hours. Let it cool a little bit. Remove the ham bone and take the meat off the bone. Return the meat to the pot. Discard the bone. Bring the pot to a boil again. If you are adding fresh or frozen peas, do it now. Let them cook a minute or two. Remove pot from heat. Serve.