Split Pea Soup

I know not everyone likes Pea Soup. I never did as a kid. My mom would make Campbell's pea soup for lunch and it would make me gag and she would get mad cuz I wouldn't eat it. So I never thought Id grow up and end up liking it. But when you make things yourself you can add lots of flavor to make it better so this is my version. I use a pressure cooker for it. I splurged a couple years ago and bought an electric one since I had no clue how to use one. Some of you have grown up with moms or grandmoms using a stove top one, I never did. And Ive heard horror stories of them blowing up so I wanted no part of that. I figure an electronic one has alot more safeguards built in them so that's what I did. Of course one new toy leads to more and since I didn't have a clue what to do with this new thing I ended up buying some cookbooks about it. A few good ones I believe are important to use as a reference for whatever you want to make.


SPLIT PEA SOUP serves 8

2 c. (1lb.) dried green or yellow split peas, picked over
2 tb. olive oil
1 lg. onion, chopped
2 cloves, garlic , minced
1 lg. potato, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 ham bone or 1 ham steak, trimmed of fat and diced
2 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
8 c. water
S & P to taste

Rinse peas under water in a colander and pick thru. Sometimes there are small stones and such missed when processed. Heat olive oil in a pressure cooker over med. heat. (Mine has a browning function button for this) Add onion and garlic and saute till soft. Add potato, carrots, celery, ham bone and ham, marjoram, salt and pepper.


Cook for 2 min. Add the split peas and water. Stir well. (I save my ham bones from other dinners in the freezer and make sure they are really meaty, this is what makes this soup good. I add extra ham if the ham bone looks pretty bare).For this soup here I added the ham bone and whatever leftover frozen ham I had from it.....probably about a pound.



Cover and bring to high pressure over high heat. (I leave the browning feature on till the water gets hot, then switch over to pressure cooker). Lower the heat to stabilize the pressure. (At this point I make sure its all locked down and the proper pressure level is set and the timer is set too, then hit start)

Cook for about 30-45min. ( I let mine go to 45min, we like the meat falling apart). Let pressure drop till cool enough to handle and uncover pot. Taste and add more S & P if needed. Stir well to incorporate all the ingredients as they tend to settle to the bottom.



This soup gets really thick the next day. I often freeze it in 1 serving containers to eat for lunches and such. I add extra water to thin it when I reheat it.