Simple Split-Pea Soup

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 3/4 cup chopped carrot
• 1 cup chopped potato
• 1 cup finely chopped up ham
• 1 cup dried split peas
• 5 cups homemade chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. 1. Saute onions with olive oil in a large stock pot until translucent on medium heat, which will take about 8 minutes.
2. 2. Add celery, carrots and potato and saute 3-4 more minutes.
3. 3. Pour in chicken broth and add split peas and ham. Uncovered, bring to a boil.
4. 4. Once boiling, cover and turn heat down to low. Let the soup simmer for 3-4 hours. The soup is done when the split peas have broken apart and are evenly mixed throughout the soup.
5. Notes: The longer you cook the soup, the better and more developed the flavor gets--sometimes I'll transfer it to a crock pot and let it simmer in there all day. If you like a smooth soup, blend finished soup with an immersion blender or in a food processor in small batches (large batches will make a mess!) If you like a thicker soup, add a small hand full of split peas to the 1-cup listed.

olive oil, onion, celery, carrot, potato, ham, peas, chicken broth, salt, pepper

Taken from www.food.com/recipe/simple-split-pea-soup-356551 (may not work)