Recipe: Thick Split Pea Soup

Thick Split Pea Soup
Source: Esther H. Vail, Rochester NY
Makes about 1 1/2 quarts and freezes well

This comes from the Boston Globe Cookbook with alterations I've worked up over the years.

1 smoked ham hock, or a few smoked neck bones (optional)
5 cups water
1 cup dried green or yellow split peas
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, diced (include some of the leaves)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
a clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 small bay leaf
1 whole clove
1 teaspoon or more to taste salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional if not using ham hock)
3/4 c. finely-diced cooked ham (optional if not using ham hock)
up to 1/4 c. lemon juice, to taste

If using ham hock, simmer in the 5 cups of water until tender, which will take several hours. Drain liquid into container and refrigerate overnight so you can remove fat. Remove meat from bone, dice, and reserve to add to soup.

Next day remove fat from broth, strain, add everything but the liquid smoke and the lemon juice. (Note: if you omit the broth-making step, you will start this recipe using the 5 cups of water at this point.)

Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until the peas disintegrate, about three hours.

Add meat from ham hock, or the optional cooked ham in its place, and season with liquid smoke, if desired, and lemon juice.