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My Mom’s Pea Soup with Ham

October 31, 2011 by Mary Frances 4 Comments

Pea soup in a white bowl.

As many of you know, I grew up in suburban St. Louis – Webster Groves – and left for college at Parsons School of Design here in NYC. So whenever I would go back home, my Mom would always have a big pot of pea soup with ham waiting for me as my first dinner home. It was my request as I adore pea soup and my mom made the best. My father would help her watch over it and stir every once in a while, referring to the simmering soup as it was “smiling”. And then he would “sweeten” it some more with Tabasco when she wasn’t looking. My friend Joan even remembers and still has my Mom’s handwritten recipe card. My card is pretty beat up and in my handwriting. I must have gotten the recipe over the phone from her. I had no idea that Joannie had an original Mom-handwritten one or that she had the recipe at all!

Now is the perfect time to make pea soup. Make a big pot and freeze some for later. Mom always seemed to have a ham bone with meat left on it to use. I use ham shanks from my butcher Bob. He cuts them in half to be able to get more flavor out of them while cooking and these babies are really meaty. (see photo below) Once again, I have made this recipe my own and changed up Mom’s. Another butcher in Summit, NJ gave me the tip of adding whole milk or cream at the end, to smooth it out and that it does! I hope you love this as much as I do.

SOPHIA’S COUNTRY SPLIT PEA SOUP – ADAPTED
1 lb. dried split green peas
1 ham bone with meat on it or 2 ham shanks, each cut in half
1 ½ cups chopped onions
1 ½ cups chopped celery with leaves – about 3 stalks
5 carrots, peeled and sliced in rounds
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
4 dashes Tabasco plus 3 more at the end
1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt
Pepper
4 smallish red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and cut into eighths
½ cup whole milk or cream

Wash off peas in cold water, drain, then cover with 2″ cold fresh water and let sit for one hour. Drain again, add 14 cups of cold water, put on high heat and let come to a boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the top. Add the ham bone or shanks, 2 bay leaves and 25 whole peppercorns. Simmer very slowly for 2 ½ hours, skimming any foam, stirring every once in a while, partially covered. Then add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, Tabasco and thyme. Simmer for another hour, uncovered, then add potatoes and simmer for another 45 minutes to 1 hour, until potatoes are tender. Remove ham shanks or bone to a platter and remove all meat from the bones. Discard bones and fat, put shredded or small bite-size chunks of ham back in the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste along with 3 more dashes of Tabasco and ½ cup of milk. Serve with buttered rye bread. We used to dip it into the soup. Yummy and so soothing and comforting.

Ham shank on a wooden cutting board.

one ham shank

The original pea soup recipe.

my original recipe


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Filed Under: Dinner, First Course, Meat Tagged With: carrots, celery, dried split peas, ham, ham bone, ham shanks, onions, pea soup, Tabasco, thyme

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Comments

  1. wilma engel says

    November 2, 2011 at 2:23 PM

    wonderful! and hello again…..we met last tuesday with the Currie’s and wish we could have spent more time together…..your blog is great….but please, check out my daughter in law’s web site and her new vegan cook book….yes, vegan! and I have another friend who started a cooking blog…so, would love to stay in touch.
    thanks
    wilma engel

    Reply
    • Mary Frances says

      November 2, 2011 at 4:51 PM

      Hi Wilma, Glad you’re on board here! Great to meet you. Will check out your daughter-in-law’s blog now. Best – Mary

      Reply
  2. adams@nationalrestaurantny says

    May 30, 2019 at 8:24 AM

    It sounds delicious! Your pictures are just lovely and I adore soup!! Would love to have a bowl of this!! YUM!
    adams@nationalrestaurantny recently posted…Traeger vs. Camp Chef Reviews [2019]My Profile

    Reply
    • Mary says

      June 18, 2019 at 11:54 AM

      Thanks!! It is my favorite soup!

      Reply

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