Split Pea Soup

It's been a while since I posted a recipe.  So, here's a recipe for split pea soup.  It's an amazing soup that seems to warm you from the inside on cold days.

I once heard onions, celery, and carrots called the holy trinity of soup bases.  So, as a base for my soup I used the holy trinity, and then added a peeled apple, a couple cloves of garlic, and some mushrooms.  Everything was roughly chopped up.  Put whatever you put in your base with some oil, salt, and pepper in the bottom of a big soup pan (I used by dutch oven).  Let them get all sweaty, until the onions are translucent.

 While the base vegetables are doing their thing, you can use the time to trim the skin and fat off the ham hock you've got ready.

Once the onions are translucent, add some broth (I bought a box that was gluten free since I'm not eating gluten anymore), a couple cups of water (I used 3) and a bag of dried green split peas. I also added a bay leaf and some liquid smoke for good measure. Bring all that to a boil.

Once the broth and vegetable base are boiling, add the trimmed ham hock, put the lid on, turn the stove to low, and let it simmer for a while.  I let my simmer for about an hour and a half.

The peas will have become mushy, and the kitchen smells amazing at this point.  At this point, take out the ham hock and let it rest for a bit. 

I wanted a creamy soup, so I took my immersion blender to the broth and vegetables.  Once it was nice and creamy, I let it continue to simmer on very low setting.

 While it was simmering, I stripped the meat from the ham hock, trimmed the fat I'd missed, chopped up the leftover ham, and stirred it into the soup.

That's it.  Easy as pie.  I put some gluten free croutons on top.  All in all, it turned out to be absolutely delicious, and the perfect thing on this chilly fall day.