Creamy Split Pea Soup
A delicious combination made simply in the crockpot. I always try to resist eating it as soon as it comes out of the pot, but I strongly advise to let it 'set' in the refrigerator until the next day to let it obtain that lovely thickness that everyone loves about pea soup!
A delicious combination made simply in the crockpot. I always try to resist eating it as soon as it comes out of the pot, but I strongly advise to let it 'set' in the refrigerator until the next day to let it obtain that lovely thickness that everyone loves about pea soup!
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 quarts water
- 1 pound dried split peas
- 1/2 cup light cream
- 1 ham bone meaty (or hocks)*see note
- 1 cup ham diced & reserved, optional
- 3 celery stalks leaves included; chopped
- 1 large sweet yellow onion chopped
- 2 parsnips (or carrots), chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley
- Carbohydrate 48.7270081641964 g
- Cholesterol 105.835187558583 mg
- Fat 39.1062115286696 g
- Fiber 17.2261778218947 g
- Protein 26.5469743039256 g
- Saturated Fat 18.6426437875831 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (644g)
- Sodium 514.797536672874 mg
- Sugar 31.5008303423018 g
- Trans Fat 2.9107322159773 g
- Calories 641 calories
Step-by-step
- Combine all ingredients except cream in slow-cooking pot. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.
- In last 30 minutes, remove ham bone or hocks; remove and chop meat; discard bones. Return meat to soup along with reserved cubed ham (if you have it). Using a large slotted spoon, put about 2/3 of the peas & parsnips into a blender along with a cup of broth and the light cream and puree for one minute. Pour back into pot. Cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Remove bay leaves, cool & refrigerate. Serve following day for best flavor.
Unlike smooth puréed vegetable soups that rely entirely on heavy stocks or copious amounts of added dairy for their mouthfeel, split pea soup achieves its signature viscosity through starch release during a long, gentle simmer. Dried split peas contain high levels of amylose and amylopectin, which break down gradually over eight to ten hours of low heat exposure, liberating natural starches into the surrounding water. Maintaining a steady low temperature prevents the exterior of the legumes from hardening while the interior remains chalky. Operating a slow cooker removes the need for constant stovetop stirring, though a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven kept at a low simmer of 190 degrees Fahrenheit serves as an effective alternative if you lack specialized electric countertop equipment. Mechanical intervention is still required to bridge the gap between rustic broth and velvet emulsion. Extracting two-thirds of the softened solids and processing them in a blender with light cream for precisely sixty seconds introduces mechanical shear force, tearing apart residual cellulose walls and reincorporating those starches directly back into the pot. Cooling the finished batch overnight allows the remaining suspended starches to retrograde fully, solidifying the continuous gel network that defines the final texture.
