World's Best Pea Soup
I have this coffee table book called "My Last Supper." It's not only one of those beautiful, hardcover books, inside and out, but the content is simply fascinating. Featuring renowned chefs like Anthony Bordain, Jamie Oliver, Rick Bayless, Scott Conant and many others, the book portrays in detail what each chef’s last supper would be.
Not only is this total foodie porn, but the question of, "what would your last supper on earth be?" completely intrigues me. Total dinner table conversation hotness.
So of course when I read this, I always think to myself: what would my last supper be?
Without hesitation, the meal that always comes to mind is my mom’s pea soup and a slice (or two) or homemade bread with butter. That's it. No fuss - just simple, heartwarming comfort food at its very finest.
If you're thinking to yourself, "you have one last meal on earth and you choose pea soup??" Yup! Chances are, you haven't had my mom's pea soup. Once you do, you'll know why.
My mom’s pea soup is so good we’ve deemed it “World’s Best”, because it truly is. What makes it so special is the addition of bacon which not only serves as a topping to the pea soup at the end for extra salty goodness, it serves as your cooking fat for your vegetables and, of course, your split peas. Think of it as bacon-scented pea soup. It’s fragrant, hearty and the ultimate bowl of comfort. I would even go as far as to say it’s to die for.
World's Best Pea Soup
Ingredients
1/2 pound thick cut pepper bacon
1 onion, chopped
6 carrots, peeled and diced
5-6 ribs celery, sliced and halved
4 cups chicken broth
2-3 smoked ham hocks or a spiral ham bone (if you go the ham hock route, I also add a few cups of ham cubes)
2 pounds dried split peas
2 teaspoons salt
2-3 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
Directions
In a large soup pot, cook bacon, stirring until crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1/2 cup bacon fat. Add veggies to pot, stirring until softened. Add remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally and adding more water to thin. Cook about 2 hours.
Remove ham hocks/bone with tons to a cutting board. Discard fat and bones and chop off meat. Add the meat to the soup plus any additional ham, and stir until heated. Remove bay leaves. Ladle soup into bowls with bacon bits over the top. Enjoy!
