Lunch: Split Pea Soup with Bacon & Crab Recipe

Ingredients

8 thick-sliced bacon strips, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 packages (16 ounces each) dried green split peas, rinsed
2 smoked ham hocks (about 1 pound)
2 bay leaves
4 cartons (26 ounces each) chicken stock
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups lump crabmeat

Instructions

In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.
Add onions, carrots and celery to bacon drippings; cook and stir over medium-high heat 8-10 minutes or until onions are tender. Stir in split peas, ham hocks, bay leaves and chicken stock. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until split peas are tender, stirring occasionally.
Discard bay leaves; remove ham hocks from soup. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones and cut into small cubes; discard bones.
Puree soup using an immersion blender. Or, cool soup slightly and puree in batches in a blender; return to pan.
Stir cream, salt, pepper and cubed ham into soup; heat through. In a small bowl, toss crab with bacon; serve with soup. Freeze option: Freeze cooled soup without toppings in freezer containers; freeze cooked bacon in a small resealable freezer bag. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat soup through in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, adding a little stock or broth if necessary. Top servings as directed.

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