Split peas? Yes please!

Training: Run 5km

This evening I again turned to the Mystery Box for some dinner inspiration.

And the selected ingredient was.....split peas.

I must admit I was initially a little stumped.

Sure I have cooked with beans and legumes many times, but I have never actually cooked with split peas before. This is definitely the aspect of the Mystery Box that I have been loving the most - the encouragement to step outside the square and try new ingredients.

Did you know? Split peas are full of soluble fibre, and can help with conditions such as IBS and lowering cholesterol. The peas also include isoflavones, which are helpful in reducing the risk of breast and prostate cancer.

Given that I had a few hours until Mr BBB would be home, I figured a slow cooked split pea soup would be a perfect way to use the peas.

And, to keep Mr BBB from protesting too much that I was again feeding him soup for dinner (particularly in light of last's weeks parsnip / sardine disaster) I opted to include a smoked ham hock, making it a split pea and ham soup if you will?.

(The split peas and a ham hock from our wonderful local butcher)

There are a plethora of pea and ham soups out there, so I turned to my favourite cookbook, Stephanie Alexander?s Cook?s Companion,  for some ?tried and true? guidance.  With a few extra veggies thrown in, of course.

I loved that this recipe was, in effect, a one-pot dish. It didn?t even require that the veggies be pre-cooked.

In my largest soup pot went 2 cups of dried split peas, diced onion, diced carrots, diced celery, a ham hock, 3 litres of water, a big handful of fresh thyme, a few bay leaves and 3 peeled garlic cloves.

Simmered for a good two hours or so. Let?s just say my house smelled divine as a result.

I then removed the ham hock and pureed 2/3 of the soup.

I returned the pureed mix to the pot, and added the ham (bone and skin removed, and chopped roughly).

The result? A flavoursome soup, enriched by the smoky ham.

Served with a slice of GF toast on the side.

This was actually a really yummy soup. And it even got the tick of approval from Mr BBB! So it looks like this one will be making a re-appearance during the cooler months. Next time I might use less liquid however to make a thicker soup.

What about you? Have you cooked with split peas before? I hear that they are also used a lot in Indian cooking.

Happy baking :)