Crockpot Split Pea Soup

Ever since I tried and failed to make Nadia G.’s split pea soup I have been on the hunt for a split pea soup recipe Reg and I both like. The next attempt was Favorite Family Recipe’s recipe. So easy and healthy, would it please both of us?

My crockpot is small and the site warned that this recipe makes a ton and they weren’t kidding! I am so glad I made half the recipe. I will write it the way I made it considering you would have to have a crockpot big enough to feed a family of monsters to make the original recipe.

Put 1 1/4 cup of dried split peas into the crockpot. The recipe did not specify what kind of peas so I used what I had which was yellow.

Add 2 coarsely chopped carrots and celery stalks. Finely chop 1 small onion and throw it in.

I am trying to avoid waste so I have been keeping the clean trimmings of veggies in a plastic bag and storing it in my freezer to make stock with later.

Small dice a large potato and add to the pot. I probably should have chopped mine smaller that this.

Throw in 1 bay leaf, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp of minced garlic.

The recipe says to add 1lb of diced ham but Reg does not like that flavour in his pea soup so I omitted it.

Add four and a half cups of chicken broth. See what I mean?! It barely fit!

Cook on low for about 7-8 hours or  4-5 five on high. I actually started mine on high for half the day and then turned it to low. Remember to remove the bay leaf before serving!

It was was too chunky for me. I thought after all that time it would have broken down more but nope! So I put about half of it through the food processor to add some smoothness.

Now I do not like pea soup but this was quite good. Very filling, definitely healthy and a cold day… pretty darn comforting. I am starting to understand the appeal of this soup.

Unfortunately, Reg was not as impressed. He thought it was OK but not as good as Habitant soup, a Canadian classic that apparently does not have a web site.

It was at this point I was thinking that maybe the soup was not the issue but the kind of split peas I was using. I dreaded using the green split peas that freaked me out as a kid and they still do. Something about the colour of that soup unnerves me but I sensed it was time for me to get over this foodie issue.

With the weekend approaching and another storm on its way here on the east coast, what could be better than throwing all this into a crockpot and having dinner ready later on with so little effort?!

Although Reg would not agree, I give this recipe made my way four out of five wooden spoons.