Slow Cooker Pea and Ham Soup

Comforting, homely Winter Soup. Doesn’t win any prizes for looks, but freezes well, very cheap to make, an Australian tradition for a reason. This recipe is based off the McKenzies Split Pea recipe.

Ingredients

• 500g green split peas
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large leek, thinly sliced (note 1)
• 2 large carrots, diced thinly
• 3  celery sticks diced thinly
• 1 potato peeled and diced
• 600g smoked bacon bones or a smoked ham hock (note 2)
• 6 cups of water

Method

1. Rinse, drain and pick over peas for any foreign matter then place at the base of your slow cooker pot.
2. In a seperate pot over low heat saute (stir while cooking over low heat) leek, carrot and celery with olive oil until almost translucent. (This will take about 6-8 minutes)
3. Place your bacon bones/ and diced potato on top of the peas in your slow cooker, then place the sautéed vegetables on top, add the water, and put your lid on top.
4. Cook on low in your slow cooker for 6-8 hours.
5. Once the time is up, turn your slow cooker off, carefully remove the bacon bones/ham hock, place on a seperate plate and take any remaining meat off.
6. Mash the soup with a potato masher (you could also carefully purée/blend this in a big pot if you wanted a smoother consistency), then add the ham back in and season to taste. Note 3.

Note 1: for a lower fodmap soup I only use the light green area of the leek.

Note 2: I prefer the taste of smoked bacon bones but they are annoying to pick out of the soup. For ease use a smoked ham hock with as much skin removed as possible.

Note 3: I generally only use pepper as the ham/smoked bacon bones are already pretty salty.

Note 4: If you want the soup to be a brighter green colour add 1 cup of frozen green peas just before you purée/blend the soup.