Serves 6 to 8
How in the name of hell can you have low fat split pea soup? Everyone knows that any decent split pea soup starts with a nice meaty ham bone and ham bones have fat, lots of fat. Well hold on. Don’t get your shorts in a twist. You can use that nice ham bone to make a delectable split pea soup with all the flavor but without most of the fat. Read on oh thee of little faith. This is a two day process.
1 big, meaty ham bone – (or several smoked ham hocks)
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
6 to 8 cloves of fresh garlic
1 tablespoon dried mixed herbs, - (Italian seasoning)
1 bay leaf
3 quarts of water
1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 cups of split peas
Fresh coarse ground back pepper to taste
Place the first six ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer and cook, covered, until the meat is falling off the bone, about two hours. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Remove the bone and strain the liquid. Cover the liquid and place in the refrigerator. Pick all meat off the bone. Discard the skin and any pieces of fat. Pick any meat that fell off the bone out of the strainer. Chop all the meat into small chunks and save.
When ready to make the soup, remove the liquid from the refrigerator and skim off all of the fat on the top. Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet and gently sauté the diced onion and celery until soft but not yet beginning to brown. Add the sautéed onion, celery, the split peas and the chopped meat to the defatted liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer and cook until the peas are mostly disintegrated. Season to taste with the pepper. It will already be salty enough from the ham bone. Serve with fresh baked crusty bread and you have a hearty, delectable and comforting meal that won’t clog your arteries.
Sodium: The nature of most smoked meats is that they are loaded with sodium. If sodium is a concern in your diet, then you had best stay away from this one. |
