Potato Split Pea Soup

Recycle.

I love to place my families’ gently used clothing in bags, label them for the Salvation Army and set them on the curb for a pick up. Knowing a family in need will benefit from them brings me great satisfaction.  Like the saying goes, someone’s discards are someone else’s treasures. Well to tell you the truth, I don’t stop at clothes, plastics, glass, metal and paper.

Recycle. Don’t we all?

My mother in law taught me years ago never throw away food. This comes from a woman who scraped the breadcrumbs off leftover pork chops, washed them and added them to the Sunday sauce. I have to say I’ve done this on more than one occasion.

A friend of mine recently asked if I wanted her semi-used smoked ham bone. Honestly I have been asked many different things in my life but I have to say that this is the very first time someone offered me their leftovers. Nonetheless, I accepted. Who can turn down a perfectly good bone? So, I took it and told her I would make a fabulous Potato Split Pea Soup.

The ingredients are as follows.

One gently used smoked ham bone, a bag of split peas, ½ - 1 cup finely chopped leeks, 3 peeled carrots chopped, 1 garlic clove minced, 2 small peeled potatoes diced, 3 bay leafs, olive oil, salt, pepper , 2 cups of chicken broth and 12 cups of water.

I remember as a kid standing on a chair next to the sink peeling carrots. In fact, my sister and I would fight over who peeled the carrots. At some point in my life I started to hate peeling carrots.  So I bought the baby ones in the bag. Problem solved; no more peeling carrots. One day I asked myself why they have a whitish color on them and I couldn’t come up with a healthy answer so I am back to peeling carrots and liking it.

In a large stock pot add the 12 cups of water and submerge the ham bone. Add the bay leaves and cover. Boil for an hour and a half.

Carefully remove the bone from the stock. Cut the remaining meat off and cube it. Return the meat to the pot and discard the bone. Unless you have another use for it then please let me know.

Drizzle some olive oil in a small sauté pan and heat to medium. Add your leeks, garlic and carrots. Season them with some salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.

Open your bag of peas and clean according to package. Add them to the stock pot along with the sautéed vegetables and potatoes. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cover. Adding the chicken broth as needed and stirring frequently.

Cook for another ½ hour or so.

Serve with some Italian bread and voila! You have a fabulous Potato Split Pea Soup for your family to enjoy.

See what you can make with a little help from a friend.

What’s on your menu?

Until next time, mangiare bene!