Refrigerator full of Thanksgiving leftovers? Here’s a great recipe to empty some space…

 

My mother-in-law is appointed annually to provide the ham for holiday meals. I don’t know if it is just her touch or something about her aged oven, but this ham is like no other. As a matter of fact, the first thing my kids ask is “Is Grandma bring the ham?”. This year she brought this amazing spiral cut ham. It was not only beautiful, but quite an impact to the taste buds. It was also huge. With only nine of us dining, there were a lot of leftovers to disperse. In years past we always disposed of the ham bone, but this year I decided to keep it and save it for some post Thanksgiving soup. So here you have it, my own rendition of Split Pea & Ham Soup. Not the prettiest dish to look at, but it makes for a fantastic hearty fall meal.

 

Ingredients: 

Directions:

 

In a small pan coated with cooking spray, saute the onion until clear. Meanwhile, place ham bone in large stock pot and cover with water. Note, don’t add more than 5 quarts or your soup will be too thin (I learned this the hard way, I’ll add less next time – still great taste though). Add the peas and cooked onions and bring to a boil. Dice the potatoes and carrots and add to the pot. Reduce heat to low – medium for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the peas from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup until the peas begin to “dissolve”. This will probably take an hour or so. Now add your leftover ham chunks - At this point I broke out my wonderful Cuisinart immersion blender and lightly blended the mixture – making sure to leave some chunks.

 

Serve to your loving appreciative family… oh, and if you can get your kids to eat something with a shocking green color, let me know. Mine wanted no part of it. Their Grandma’s wonderful ham had been exploited. Sounds like PB&J for them.

 

My soup did not need any seasoning, as the ham provides plenty of sodium (and arteriosclerosis).