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Here it starts with a baked ham Sunday Dinner. You need that ham bone with lots of meat left on. I toss in some carrots and a potato. Simmer it until everything falls apart. I used to smooth it out in my blender but now I have an immersion blender. Love that little thing !!!!

I use a store bought smoked ham hock, carrots, celery, onions and thyme and time. After the soup is perfumed with porky goodness and the lentils have given up the fight, I remove the hock, ditch the skin and dice the rest and return it to the pot. Hmmm...I have some frozen in the fridge...perhaps I'll have some of that for dinner.

I just made this the other night! Onion, leek, some diced Canadian bacon we had leftover in the fridge, along with the split peas. Also tried using the Rapunzel bouillon cubes for the first time, which I really enjoyed. It could've used some carrots, but it was so yucky out that I decided to forego them this time.

I make pea soup on a regular basis. It's a matter of taste what meat product you use to flavor it.
I have made it with chorizo, but now find that a bit too overpowering. Ham hocks are nice, but stripping and dicing the meat is extra work. My current recipe uses homemade pancetta, which I buy from my local butcher.

Pea Soup
8 servings Cooking time: 1 hour

1 lb. dried yellow or green split peas
8 oz. pancetta
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2–1/2 qts. chicken broth
1 large onion, roughly chopped
3 large carrots, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp. dried thyme or 1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
3 dried bay leaves
salt & pepper
toasted bread croutons (optional, for garnish)

Equipment:
colander
6–8 qt. stockpot
hand–held immersion blender

Rinse and pick over the peas in a colander or large mesh strainer.
In the stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Dice the pancetta, add to the pot, and sauté until the fat is rendered out. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, plus 1 tsp. table salt and 1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper. Sauté until vegetables are softened, 8 min. Add the chicken broth, peas, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, cover, and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 50–60 min, or until peas are tender. Remove the bay leaves and discard.
Puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with toasted croutons.

if you don't have a ham hock, fry up some bacon ..... i always like to throw some potatoes (or leftover mashed potatoes, too) in my pea soup. some people use hot dogs, also.

hey, don't send the guy out in that weather! good luck, hope you don't get too snowed in.

I made split pea soup once when some friends brought a very salty country ham back from Virginia. I found the saltiness unpalatable, so my roommate at the time recommended dicing some and adding it to split pea soup. It was just the thing - added some wonderful flavor and thickened it up a bit too.

Always onions, celery, carrots - and bay leaves. The bay leaves are so essential that I think you can make a really good vegetarian pea soup as long as you include bay. I also add thyme and usually some sort of smoked and cured pork, but I like it just fine without the pork. Plenty of black pepper

.... thanks for all your good thoughts. The final version (and, no, I did not send him out into that raging blizzard!) included uncured ham and bacon that I fried before adding. The result was delicious, and perfect on a snowy evening.