Split Pea Soup / Leftover Ham

When I bake a ham, there are always lots of leftovers. I always make sure I dice up a bunch of the ham and freeze it in two cup portions, roughly. I don’t actually measure. I fill a few sandwich bags of diced ham and then put each sandwich bag in a gallon freezer bag. This has several advantages. First, it’s cheaper to use a few sandwich bags and one freezer bag rather than a bunch of freezer bags. Plus, it’s easier to keep track of how much ham I have left in the freezer because I see my stash of ham each time I use some.

Some of the ham I just pull out a bit and throw in scrambled eggs after defrosting. But most of it ends up in split pea or bean soup.

Split pea soup is so easy, because you don’t need to pre-soak the beans. You can use water or chicken broth. Rinse and sort through them, although I personally have never seen anything but split peas in any of mine! A bag (pound) of split peas, 8 cups of broth or water, a few stalks of sliced celery, a diced carrot, a diced onion, a clove or two of garlic minced up, a cup or two of diced ham, and some black pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until the peas are tender, about an hour and a half. You can mash them together with a handheld immersion blender or do it the lazy way like I do, and just let them cook another half hour or so.