Parker's Split Pea Soup Recipe

Over the holidays my mom bought a honey-baked ham from the famous "Honeybaked Ham Company" for a holiday luncheon with my grandparents. I am not a fan of ham (mostly because I need to watch my sodium) so I didn't partake in it but everyone else that did raved about how yummy it was. Anyways, we had leftovers so we froze them and Nathan requested that I make a split pea soup with ham for him. I found this recipe online (it does not call for ham but I added some at the end) and it turned out to be sooooooo delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped yellow onions
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (I only used 1/2 tsp because we don't like things too salty AND because of the addition of the ham).
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups medium-diced carrots (3 to 4 carrots)
• 1 cup medium-diced red boiling potatoes, unpeeled (3 small)
• 1 pound dried split green peas
• 8 cups chicken stock or water (I used 6 cups stock because I knew I would be adding the salty ham, and three cups of water because it seemed pretty thick once the lentils had cooked).
• Optional: 1 cup ham chopped into small squares.

Directions

In a 4-quart stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with the olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper until the onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the carrots, potatoes, 1/2 pound of split peas, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Skim off the foam while cooking. Add the remaining split peas and continue to simmer for another 40 minutes, or until all the peas are soft. Stir frequently to keep the solids from burning on the bottom. Add Ham in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve hot. 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/parkers-split-pea-soup-recipe/index.html