This recipe has evolved over the years…
With the unexpected thawing of the contents of our freezer recently, the recipe was pulled out and dusted off. Hocks were cooked, soup was made, and then it was packaged and frozen down ready for those days when you just want something quick and easy for dinner. We love soup and sweets nights!
- 1 smoked bacon hock
- 1 onion
- 1 leek
- 1 sticks of celery
- 1 carrot
- 4 ltrs water
- 400 g split peas
- 1 cup loosely packed mint leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 stalks of thyme
- Salt
- Course ground black pepper
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Soak the peas overnight.
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Wash all the herbs and vegetables,
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Peel and trim the vegetables, reserving the peel and offcuts.
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Dice the vegetables and set aside.
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Place the hock, vegetable offcuts and peel, and water into a large pan. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer.
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Simmer until the meat is falling off the bone.
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Remove the bone from the stock and then pull the meat from the bone and discard the bone, fat and rind.
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Chop/shred the meat into bite size pieces and set aside in the refrigerator.
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Strain the stock and refrigerate. When chilled, lift fat from the top, discarding the fat, retaining the stock.
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In a clean pan, heat the olive oil, then add chopped vegetables and sauté gently without coloring.
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Drain and rinse the split peas before adding them, together with the bay leaf, thyme and mint to the pan, stir to combine, then add 3 litres of stock and simmer until all vegetables are tender and peas are mushy.
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Remove pan from heat, discard bayleaf as well as the stalks from the thyme.
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Cool soup slightly and then purée in a blender.
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Pour soup in to a clean pan, bring to a gentle simmer, season with salt and pepper, add the chopped meat and then simmer for a further 15 minutes.
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Serve hot.
Freeze remaining soup into meal size portions for a quick easy meal.
Be sure to try the soup before adding any salt as the hock stock and hock meat will have already imparted a significant amount of salt to the dish.
If you are on a gluten free diet, make sure that the ham hocks you purchase are gluten free.
If the soup is a little to thick, thin it down with a little of the remaining stock, or some water.
