October whole pea soup

Around this time of year, I have a fondness for soup, especially pea soup. Normally, I prefer to use a ham bone for pea soup, but I don’t always have one available. Instead, you can use two large smoked ham hocks, and make the pea soup out of that. 

Now, if you read most cookbooks, they’ll tell you that you have to soak the peas first, either over night, or for an hour in water that was brought to a boil. Well, the last time I made this, it was already past noon when I started, so I skipped the soaking step. Here’s what I did instead.

Grape seed oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

2 large stalks of celery

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. chopped fresh sage

1/2 tsp. oregano

2 large smoked ham hocks

1 cup of chopped roast pork or ham (optional)

2 bay leaves

4 quarts of water

1 lb. dried whole green peas

1 tbs. dried onion flakes

Cajun seasoning

Adobo seasoning

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat a large soup pot and add enough grape seed oil to coat the bottom. Add the medium chopped onion, the red pepper flakes, the thyme, sage, oregano, the ham hocks and the chopped pork. Stir and cook until the onions have softened and start to brown.

Add the bay leaves, the rinsed and sorted peas and the water. As the water is coming to a boil, add the chopped carrot, chopped celery, the large chopped onion, the garlic and the onion flakes. Sprinkle on some cajun seasoning and adobo seasoning. Now add some salt and pepper.

Let this simmer, very gently, for four hours and stir often. You may need to add some additional water to maintain the volume. After about three hours, smash some peas against the side of the pot as you stir. 

During the last hour, taste the soup for seasoning. You’ll need to add more cajun seasoning and more salt. Taste it and adjust it several times during that last hour. Also break up the ham hocks as you stir. I’d add a little more thyme during the last hour as well. The soup is ready when it has thickened and has lots of little pea shells floating on top.

Serving

October pea soup is easy to serve. Bake a loaf of homemade bread during the last hour of simmering, and serve that while it is still warm enough to melt the butter. Have several large bowls of soup with lots of bread and butter. I also suggest adding some Louisiana Hot Sauce to each bowl. Open a bottle of California Merlot and you can enjoy dinner. Ripe red pears make a nice dessert. I find that it takes  three or four bowls of soup, before I can leave the table.