Dutch Pea & Ham Soup

This is the real dutch way of making pea and ham soup. I also love the aussie way of making this lovely rich thick soup and I have also got this in my free online recipes. The dutch way of making it is to use green split peas but if you prefer the yellow ones, you can also make it with them. I love to use a pressure cooker to make my soups in as it is so much quicker in cooking time and keeps all the lovely flavours in.

INGREDIENTS:

1 small pkt green split peas
1 large brown onion - chopped
1 extra large potato- peeled and diced
1 bacon hock or bacon slab
1 polish or dutch sausage (salami style)
approx 1 1/2 - 2 litres water
salt and black pepper to taste

METHOD:

Soak peas overnight or for at least 8 hours. Pour off this water then cover with fresh water, the bacon hock, diced potato, onion and some salt and ground black pepper to taste. Cook for at least 2 hours on top of stove or else use a pressure cooker and follow time stated. It is usually about 25 minutes after you have it up to correct pressure. Once your soup is cooked, the meat should fall away easily from the bone. Remove the meat and chop it up, then return to pot. Peel sausage and slice up and place in the soup. Serve with some lovely fresh crusty bread and it will make a complete meal out of it.