Post #24 - Whole Pea and Ham Soup

First let me say that I am NOT going to post a picture of this. I don't think anyone could make this soup appear appetizing with a photograph.

That being said, this soup was absolutely amazing for being completely unplanned and requiring zero trips to purchase ingredients.

There was this sad little bag of whole dried peas in my cupboard that I purchased a while back from the Escondido Swap Meet & Farmers Market on a whim. (If I had been thinking, I would've photographed the cute little peas, so there would've been at least one picture to gaze at.) Three or so hours later, the sad little bag was transformed into a delectable pot of split whole pea soup.

Whole Pea Soup with Ham

1 1/2 cups whole dried peas
1/2 an onion, diced fine
1 almost-dead carrot, diced fine
2 ribs almost-limp celery, diced fine
chicken stock
bay leaf
thyme
s&p
cubed cooked ham
celery leaves, to garnish

Saute the onion, carrot and celery in some sort of fat about 10 minutes. I used chicken fat that I had skimmed off the broth. Dump in the broth, peas, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a boil, then let simmer forever. Use an immersion blender or the back of a spoon to smash/puree if you so desire. Stir in the ham, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer a little longer, until the peas are done to your liking.

And to further the "use up whatever you can find in the house" theme, chunks of day-old baguette make a great spoon.